What a Vacation Can Do
by alosercanwin
Summary: Hermione, a reporter , and Pansy, a shop owner, are stressed with their lives. When their paths get crossed in the most unexpected way, they decide to take a vacation at each others homes. Hermione, however, never expected Draco Malfoy to come walking in.
1. Entering the Unknown

_Hello everybody! Thank you for choosing to read: What a Vacation Can Do! _

_I came up with this idea out of the top of my head and the more i started to think about it, the more i started to like it! So i sat down on my laptop and wrote up the first chapter. Let me know what you guys think! If i get a lot of reviews... i'll continue!_

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One

Hermione Granger un-boarded her plane and with a smile, lugging her carry on over her shoulder as she pushed her way through the crowd towards the baggage claim. She waited with her arms crossed across her chest for her bags to come, then grabbed them and headed for the exit of the airport to grab a taxi.

When the taxi pulled up next to her, the driver got out with a smile and opened the trunk for her. Hermione casually walked to the back of the car and allowed the driver to take her bags for her, then climbed into the back seat. When the driver was seated, he closed the door and turned to face Hermione. "Going anywhere in particular, Ma'am?" He asked kindly.

Hermione smiled at the man and nodded her head. "Yes. I'm actually heading to Four Depot Road in Heathfield."

The driver nodded his head and turned back to the wheel before putting it in drive and pulling away from the airport. "How was your flight?" He asked, looking at her through the rear view mirror.

"It was good actually." Hermione gave the man another smile before reaching into her pocket and pulling out a picture. "It was long, but still good."

"Where did you travel from?"

"England."

"Ahh," The driver said, nodding his head. "I should have known with your accent. Any reason for your travel to Heathfield?"

"Yes." Hermione said with a smile as she looked down at the picture in her hands. "I'm going to visit my parents. I'm going to bring them home." Hermione didn't see the man's reaction. She was too busy staring at her mum and dad smiling up at her from the picture to see it. All she knew was in about an hour's time, she would be standing in front of her parents with a wand in her hand, ready to take the memory charm off them so they would finally remember that they had a daughter and their life's ambition wasn't to actually to move to Australia. She exhaled a deep breath and looked out the window with a smile on her face before whispering: "I'm coming. I'm finally coming."

* * *

"Mr. Malfoy, you have a visitor."

"Who is it?" Draco didn't look up as his secretary pocked her head through his door. Instead he continued to flip through the many papers he had to have signed by the end of the day, not giving her an ounce of attention.

"She didn't say. She just said it was really important." Draco sighed and looked up at his secretary quickly, taking note that she was biting her lips together nervously, before glancing back down at the many papers sitting across his desk. As he signed the bottom of one of the pages he finished reading, he waved his hand that held his quill up at her. "Just send her in."

He heard the door close and shook his head. The thought often came to him of why his secretary was always so nervous around him. Could it be that she was doing something wrong and was afraid that he would find out? No. Nothing had gone wrong in his office for months. Was it possible that she was afraid of him? Intimidated by him? Draco laughed that thought off, before realizing that that probably was why she was always so nervous. 'Am I really that bad of a guy?' He asked himself.

He shook that idea out of his head as well, making a mental note to try and not be so rude or grumpy and see if that changed her mood at all. As he flipped the page over on one of the huge pamphlets he was reading, he heard the door open slowly and then shut at just the same pace. Draco didn't look up, he barely heard it. He was so into his work that not even somebody coming to talk to him would interrupt him.

"Hello Draco."

Draco shot his head up at hearing her voice. Well maybe somebody _could_ interrupt him.

"Hello Pansy." Draco said with no enthusiasm in his voice. She was the last person he would have expected to come waltzing into his office and he certainly wasn't in the mood to deal with her throwing herself all over him like she did in their Hogwarts years.

Draco turned back to his work and picked up his quill, making a note on a piece of sticky paper, then placing it in the top corner of the pamphlet. "How have you been, Draco?" Pansy said, slowly approaching his desk.

"I'm fine." Draco said slowly, not bothering to look up.

"That's good." Pansy said, reaching his desk and taking a seat in one of the chairs that sat facing him.

Draco looked up when he saw her sit down out of the corner of his eye and glared at her. "Why don't you take a seat?" He asked sarcastically.

Pansy rolled her eyes and stood up suddenly, crossing her arms over her chest. "Am I not welcome? I can leave if you really want?" Pansy glanced at the door quickly before turning back to Draco who was now staring at her with a smirk on his face. It was obvious he was trying to hold back a snicker. He knew Pansy so well he could read her like a book. He knew she didn't really want to leave, and she knew that he knew, but that wasn't going to stop her from making up a sob story. "All I wanted to do was come and visit what used to be one of my best friends, and now all he-"

"Pansy." Draco said simply, smiling slightly at his old girlfriend. "You didn't come here to just pay me a visit, so cut the crap."

Pansy opened her mouth to argue that she did come here to see Draco, but shut it at the small smile and raised eyebrow Draco gave her. "Fine." She said, crossing her legs and studying her nails. "I need a favor."

Draco stared at Pansy, completely dumbfounded, and watched as she slowly raised her head to look at him. They made eye contact for a few seconds before Draco turned back to his work. "I don't want to have sex with you. I thought we agreed back in Hogwarts to stop seeing each other in that way. Friends only… remember?" Draco didn't look up as he spoke.

"I'm not here for sex." Pansy said, rolling her eyes.

Draco suddenly looked up and stared into Pansy's pleading eyes. "Money then, is it?"

"Well-"

"Not that I don't want to donate to the Pansy Parkinson fund or anything."

"Damn it Draco!" Pansy said suddenly, unfolding her legs and sitting on the edge of her seat. "Can you stop being so fucking sarcastic?" Draco stared at Pansy with a small smile plastered on his face as she gazed around his office, obviously trying to not look at him. When she finally did look back at him, he had to hide a laugh at how frustrated she was. He couldn't help but find it hilarious when Pansy got frustrated. "I do need money, but not like that."

"What are you-"

"I need a loan." Pansy quickly interrupted him.

Draco let out a tiny laugh. "A loan?" Draco asked, getting a nod from Pansy. "Do you even know what a loan is?"

Pansy ignored his last comment. "I'm sure you're heard about the shops going on sale this weekend in Diagon Alley. You know, all the shops owned by people who were found or presumed dead because of the war."

"Of course I know about that." Draco said putting his quill down and leaning back in his chair. "What does that have to do with you needing a loan? Don't tell me you're looking into buying one of those shops?"

"I've always wanted to start my own clothing business. This is the perfect place and the perfect opportunity."

"Pansy…"

"Come on Draco." Pansy said, leaning closer towards Draco and resting her arms on his desk. "I know this is more than I've ever asked you to do for me, but I really need this favor. It's just a loan. I'll pay you back as soon as I get the money in full."

Draco exhaled a deep breath and studied Pansy carefully. "You're asking me for a lot."

"I know I am. But this is my dream. I already have several outfits designed and some even made, I just need the money to open up the shop."

"How much do you need?" Draco said out of curiosity.

Pansy bit her lips together and then exhaled a deep breath before speaking. "20,000 galleons."

"Merlin, Pansy!" Draco said, almost falling out of his seat. "That's insane! How can you expect me to give you that much money?"

"I'll pay you back, I promise!" Pansy said, now practically begging.

"You're insane. You should go check yourself into St. Mungos." Draco stood up from his seat and turned his back on Pansy, approaching the window that sat behind his desk and looked out onto the street below. He crossed his arms over his chest and watched as the people walked along the sidewalk.

"Draco…." Pansy said quietly, not sure what to say. "Haven't you ever wanted something? Have you ever wanted something so bad, and even though its right in front of you, you can't even reach it?" Draco turned back to Pansy slowly. "What if you couldn't get it all because somebody refused to help you?" They stared at each other for a few seconds before Pansy continued yet again. "I know you can relate to that."

"With what?" Draco asked quietly. "I've never wanted to open up a clothing store."

"With Voldemort." Pansy said quickly, practically interrupting Draco. "During the war, you were always forced to do things that you didn't want to do, all because of your family. It was obvious to anybody who actually knew you that you didn't want to be involved with The Deatheaters. I bet if you were given the chance back in Hogwarts, you would have gone running right to Potter, wanting to become part of The Order."

"I-"

"Don't try and deny it." Pansy said quickly, stepping around Draco's desk and approaching him slowly. "You didn't go to Potters side because you couldn't. You were afraid and trapped like the rest of us. But I bet, if you had help back then, it would have been different. I bet if you had help,… you wouldn't be in this situation."

"What? Getting begged for money by an old friend of mine?" Draco asked, now looking down at Pansy who was standing a couple feet in front of him.

"You wouldn't be trying to prove yourself to the world, just like me… and just like everybody else who got caught up in this."

"How will opening up a clothing store make you seem like a better person to the public and not just some blood crazy pureblood?"

"I never said it would." Pansy said in a whisper, now only about a foot away from Draco. "But it'll help you." Pansy looked Draco up and down and stopped at his confused expression. "Give me the loan and I'll make sure that everybody knows you're the one who did it. I'll make sure everybody knows the Draco Malfoy reached into his kind heart and gave one of his old school friends 20,000 galleons just so she could start her own business." Draco took a step back and just stared at Pansy. "Please Draco. What do you have to lose?"

"20,000 Galleons." Draco said before taking a seat down at his desk, Pansy standing behind him diagonally. He ran a hand through his hair and exhaled a deep breath before picking up the quill and turning to look up at Pansy. "If I do this for you, then I want to be paid back in sums. I don't want to have to wait years to get my money back."

"How-"

"I want 30 percent of your earnings from each week." Pansy bit the side of her lip and crossed her arms, obviously thinking through this carefully.

"Alright." She finally said. "But if you want to be paid in sums then I at least want you to be a part of my business."

"I'm not being a model for you, so forget about it."

Pansy laughed slightly. "Not a model. I want you to help me manage the place."

Draco thought it over quickly before nodding. "Okay. But I swear, if you make me put on one thing-"

Pansy smiled and approached Draco. "I'm not going to make you try anything on." She said, wrapping her arms around him in a hug and kissing the top of his head as he pulled his checkbook out of his office drawer. He quickly signed and dated the check before slowly handing it off to Pansy.

Pansy took it with a thank you and gave Draco one more kiss on the top of his head before turning towards the door. "Pansy." Draco called as she grabbed the door handle and started to turn it. "I want to see the place before you spend _my_ money." Pansy smiled and gave Draco a wave before opening the door and closing it softly. Draco turned back to his work and shook his head, picking up the pamphlet he was reading before Pansy came in. "What have I gotten myself into?"

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_Please let me know what you all thought!_

_And for those of you who are wondering how much 20,000 galleons is to a dollar, its right around 200,000. If you're not used to the dollar and you really want to know you can easily find it on google!_

_-alosercanwin_


	2. Not Knowing

_Thanks to those who reviewed last chapter: dracomalfoyswifey, LynZann, mjmusiclover, and gigi._

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Last Chapter: Pansy took it with a thank you and gave Draco one more kiss on the top of his head before turning towards the door. "Pansy." Draco called as she grabbed the door handle and started to turn it. "I want to see the place before you spend my money." Pansy smiled and gave Draco a wave before opening the door and closing it softly. Draco turned back to his work and shook his head, picking up the pamphlet he was reading before Pansy came in. "What have I gotten myself into?"

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Two

Hermione got out of the back of the cab as the driver approached the trunk, popping it open and pulling her bags out. Hermione smiled at him and got the money out of her pocket to pay him. "Thank you." She said as he dragged her bags over to the sidewalk for her.

"No, thank you." He said with a smile, taking the money from her and returning back to his cab.

Hermione approached the sidewalk, and with her carry on over her shoulder, she grabbed her two bags and started to approach the house. She glanced up at it as she approached and it was no wonder why her parents had decided to move here. The house was beautiful. It was painted a light shade of yellow, the windows and shutters stood out from the house in a bright white, flower boxes; holding a rainbow of flowers lined the bottom of the windows giving it it's homey touch, a white picket fence surrounded the yard that was covered in the brightest and healthiest looking grass Hermione had ever seen, and behind the beautiful house was a small lake; perfect for a swim in the summer.

Exhaling a deep breath, Hermione walked up the steps that led to the porch where two rocking chairs sat facing the street, and placed her bags down. Double checking her pockets to make sure she had her wand ready, she bit her lips together nervously and knocked on the door three times.

She waited nervously until she could hear somebody talking from the inside, and before she knew it, the front door opened. Before her stood one of the people she hadn't seen in close to 2 years, and Hermione felt tears at the back of her eyes at the sight of her.

"Can I help you?" Her mom asked with a smile. Hermione smiled back, at a complete loss for words. "Are you okay, dear?"

Hermione cleared her throat before speaking. "Yes, I'm sorry." She apologized quickly. "Would it be alright if I came in? I have something I need to speak with you about."

Her mom looked at her with confusion printed all over her features. Hermione was about to speak again, but heard something that made her stop in her tracks. "Who is it?" Hermione's father walked around the corner and approached the door, looking from Hermione to his wife, waiting for an answer.

"I'm afraid I don't know who you are." Her mom finally said, speaking in a soft and quiet voice.

"You don't recognize me, but I can assure you that you know who I am. If I could just come in-"

"How do you know us?" Her dad asked quickly, now keen as to what was going on.

"Well…." Hermione laughed slightly, not sure where to go with this. "It's actually a long story." She watched her parents as they stared back at her, still waiting for the invitation to come inside, but it never came. "Are you sure I can't come in? I would rather not have this conversation out in the open."

"Just let her in dear. She looks harmless." Her dad said, moving away from the door and ushering Hermione inside. Hermione followed with a smile as her father led her into their sitting room. The inside of the house was just as beautiful as the outside, and Hermione fell in love with the sitting room the second she walked in. Aside from the beautiful furniture and colors that made the room feel warm and lovable, there was a huge bay window that sat facing the seats with a perfect view of the small lake that sat behind the house.

Hermione smiled as she looked at it, and then turned to her parents quickly. "Would you like some tea, dear?" Hermione's mom asked.

"Oh…. No. I'm fine thank you." Hermione said with a smile, watching as her parents took a seat on the love seat.

"Very well." Her mom said with a sigh. "Most of our guest don't ever want tea. Most Australians find it rather strange that we offer tea when they're coming into our house."

"I can assure you I don't find it strange." Hermione said with a smile, taking a seat. It was the first time she ever actually got a good look at her parents, and she couldn't help but see how happy they were. She also couldn't help but feel somewhat broken hearted at the fact that her parents didn't even recognize her their daughter. But she quickly told herself that was because of the spell and shook that thought from her head straight away, telling herself it would all be better once she performed the counter spell. "I'm actually not even Australian."

"Ahh." Her dad said with a smile. "You're accent isn't that strong, but it is still visible." Hermione couldn't help but notice that her father had picked up somewhat of a Australian accent, and that combined with his English sounded rather strange. "English?"

Hermione nodded. "Just like you." Both of her parents stared at her with this comment. She looked at them carefully before speaking. "You really don't recognize me?"

They both shook their heads. "Are you going to tell us why you're here?" Her mother asked kindly.

"Well, what I'm about to say might comes as a bit of a shock to you." Hermione looked at her parents before inhaling a deep breath. She moved to the edge of her seat and finally spoke. "What if I told you that your names really weren't Wendell and Monica Wilkins?"

Both of her parents started to laugh slightly, and it broke Hermione's heart just a little bit more. "What are you getting at?" Her father asked, a small smile still plastered on his face.

"Are you aware you have a daughter?" Hermione asked, trying to ignore their small bits of laughter.

"If I had given birth I think I would have known about it." Her mom said, her smile disappearing slightly.

"You wouldn't remember." Hermione said quickly. "Your memories been tampered with."

"Our memories have been what…?"

"Tampered with. Your names are not Wendell and Monica Wilkins. They are Jean and Harold Granger." Hermione said rather quickly.

"This is crazy." Her father said suddenly very serious. "Why would you come into our home and make these false statements up?"

"They're not false." Hermione said suddenly standing up. "Those are your real names and that's not all you don't know."

"What are-"

"You have a daughter as well." Hermione stared at her parents, inhaling a deep breaths as they stared back at her. "I am your daughter. My name is Hermione Granger."

"That is impossible." Her father said softly, looking her up and down.

"No, it's not!"

"I would like you to leave." He said suddenly, standing up and pointing at the door.

"No! I can't leave, not yet." Hermione licked her lips, feeling tears coming to her eyes, before pulling her wand out of her pocket and pointing it at her parents. Her mother shrieked and jumped up from the couch, not knowing what was being pointed at her, and her father instinctively jumped in front of his wife. "_Memoria Deleo Reproba_!" Hermione yelled clearly.

A small spark erupted from her wand, but nothing more. She stared at her parents, waiting for them to recognize her and suddenly run into her arms, and she would be able to cry on their shoulders, telling them how much she missed them. She would be able to apologize and tell them that she was sorry it took her so long to come. She would be able to tell them that she was sorry it took The Ministry and The Order that long to sort everything out from the war before she could leave. She would be able to tell them all about her exciting and dangerous adventure that she went through with Harry and Ron. She would be able to tell them that everything was over and that they could be a family without having to worry about what would happen with Voldemort.

She would be able to tell them she loved them.

But as Hermione started at her parents, she didn't get the warm feeling that she pictured when she dreamed of this moment so many times. It was the same cold feeling as before. The same cold feeling that her parents didn't recognize her. To them, she was just a crazy person with busy, curly, brown hair who was standing in their sitting room and pointing a piece of wood at them, muttering silly Latin words.

Her father, his cheeks red with rage, stared at Hermione with anger. "Get out of my house!" He yelled suddenly.

Hermione, confused as to why the spell didn't work, had no idea what to say. "But-"

"GET OUT!" Hermione, with tears now pouring down her eyes, just stood there. Her father suddenly took a step towards her, causing her to step back. "You have ten seconds to get off my property." He said through his teeth. "I'm getting the phone and I'm calling the police. You better be out of this house by the time I have the phone in my hands."

"No, please-." Hermione reached her hand out to grab her father and stop him, but he pulled away quickly and was now practically sprinting towards the phone in the kitchen.

Hermione had no choice. She sprinted from the house as fast as she could. She grabbed her bags once she pushed her way through the front door and didn't stop until she came to the corner of the street. She tossed her bags on the ground with force, taking her anger and sadness out on them, and bent over, putting her hands on her knees as she attempted to catch her breath. She didn't stop the tears from running down her cheeks and hitting the sidewalk, and she pretended not to feel the pounding of her heart, not only from the adrenaline rush, but also from her broken heart that was now shattered to pieces.

The charm to remove the memory charm placed on her parents hadn't worked. Her parents didn't know that their names were Harold and Jean Granger and they didn't know that they had a daughter.

And for the first time,… Hermione Granger didn't know what to do.

* * *

Draco sighed as he took a seat. He shook his head slightly and watched as Pansy walked around the tiny, beat up shop. She looked around excitedly, gasping and letting out a little squeak at everything that caught her attention.

He rolled his eyes when Pansy came to a spiral staircase in the middle of the shop that led up to a second floor balcony, overlooking the first floor of the shop. She squealed louder than ever and Draco was surprised she wasn't jumping up and down with excitement. He quickly turned his attention from Pansy to the lady who had been with them all morning, showing them the insides of all the shops until they found the perfect one for Pansy to turn into her own store.

"Oh, I just love this one!" Pansy exclaimed, turning around and giving the shop a good look. "It's perfect."

The lady smiled brightly and held her clipboard closer to her chest. "This is a popular one." She said nodding at Draco and Pansy. "I'm surprised it hasn't been purchased yet."

Pansy suddenly looked worried and quickly turned to Draco. "What do you think about this one Draco?"

"I don't know." Draco said lazily, standing up and putting his hands inside of his pant pockets. "It's tiny and really beat up, Pansy. Isn't there any other ones you could show us that aren't as beat up?" Draco asked, turning to the sales lady.

"This shop diffidently took a beating during the war, I have to agree with you one that. But I can assure you that before the war, this shop looked fantastic." The lady smiled brightly and quickly checked her clip board. "But if you really wanted to see another-"

"We don't want to see another one." Pansy snapped suddenly. When the lady looked offended by Pansy's interruptions, Pansy smiled her apology and then turned to Draco. "I really like this one, Draco."

Draco sighed and looked around the room with a disgusted look on his face. "It's falling apart Pansy and it's really small."

"It's not small." Pansy argued. "There's two floors, so it's actually really big. How many stores in Diagon Alley have two floors?" Draco smirked and opened his mouth to answer, but Pansy continued. "And it's not falling apart that bad." Pansy turned away from Draco and looked up at the shop. "Do we know how to do magic or not?"

"Pansy…."

"Draco, you have found something wrong with every other store we went to look at today." Pansy said, moving closer to Draco.

"Not every store."

Pansy shook her head and crossed her arms over her chest. "You said the one by Twilfit and Tattings was a bad place for business."

"Well, it was."

"And how about the one by the second hand robe shop? What was your excuse for that place?"

"There were too many windows." Draco said seriously. "The sunlight would have been awful and it would have been too hot to manage come summer time."

"Right." Pansy said, rolling her eyes. "And how about the ones by Ollivanders, Knockturn Alley, Magical Menagerie, the owl emporium, and Flourish and Blotts? What was wrong with them?" Draco stared at Pansy, refusing to answer. It was a rhetorical question anyway. "My point exactly. Nothing was wrong with them!"

"They all had great reasons for you not to buy them!" Draco yelled back.

"Come on, Draco!" Pansy sighed and then suddenly became very quiet. "I really like this one." She was practically begging Draco with her eyes. "This one won't be hard to fix up and it'll look great once it is fixed. I promise." Draco sighed and looked around at the shop. Pansy did have a point. It would look nice once it was fixed up and because it was smaller than the other ones, it would be cheaper.

He glanced down at Pansy and she looked up at him with a small, nervous smile on her face. "Alright." He said. Pansy's smile grew instantly and she quickly turned from Draco to the sales lady.

"We'll take it!" She yelled excitedly, clasping her hands together.

The sale lady smiled brightly and pulled some papers out from her clip board. "Excellent! Now I'm just going to need some signatures from you Ms. Parkinson and then we can move on to the actual purchase of the shop." Draco watched them both move over towards the counter of the shop where the sales lady laid out all the papers and Pansy grabbed a quill, signing where she was told.

Finally deciding that he wouldn't be needed anymore, Draco said his goodbye quickly and then exited the shop. He knew it wouldn't be long until Pansy roped him into helping her fix up the shop so she could get it ready for business as soon as possible, and he wanted to get as much time away from her as possible.

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_I hope you guys like the second chapter! The story is going to start coming together in the next couple of chapters, so stay with it because i promise a good one : )_

_Remember to review please!_


	3. Article of the Month

___Thanks to those who reviewed last chapter: dracomalfoyswifey, LynZann, soccercrazyfreak, jessirose85, kazfeist, and mjmusiclover. __Last Chapter: He glanced down at Pansy and she looked up at him with a small, nervous smile on her face. "Alright." He said. Pansy's smile grew instantly and she quickly turned from Draco to the sales lady._

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_"We'll take it!" She yelled excitedly, clasping her hands together._

_The sale lady smiled brightly and pulled some papers out from her clip board. "Excellent! Now I'm just going to need some signatures from you Ms. Parkinson and then we can move on to the actual purchase of the shop." Draco watched them both move over towards the counter of the shop where the sales lady laid out all the papers and Pansy grabbed a quill, signing where she was told._

_Finally deciding that he wouldn't be needed anymore, Draco said his goodbye quickly and then exited the shop. He knew it wouldn't be long until Pansy roped him into helping her fix up the shop so she could get it ready for business as soon as possible, and he wanted to get as much time away from her as possible._Three: Article of the Month

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Three

Hermione sat down at her desk and sighed as she glanced around at all the papers laying spread across it. It was a mess, and she hated it. She had spent the entire day yesterday out working on the latest news story and never made it into her office. And now, because of that, it was a mess. She ran a hand through her hair before starting to sort though all her notes that lay completely unorganized and out of place, and putting them back where they belonged. She grabbed manila folder after manila folder, writing dates in the top corner and then placing her notes inside.

Because this became her life. Running around with a camera in her hand and notepad and pen in her other hand, pushing through crowds of people just to get a good picture or a good interview, hiding behind a fake smile so people would think she was happy when giving them an interview, keeping herself organized while on the go and at her desk, and being able to write the best article she could come up with so she could keep her job while staying at the top. That was her life.

It wasn't that Hermione didn't enjoy her job, because she did. She loved running around to get a good story because in some strange way, it reminded her of her adventures with Harry and Ron. When she would go to a place where something exciting just happened, that would be all she would see. She would see nothing more than the aftermath, and until she got to interview somebody, what happened was just a mystery to her. It was a mystery to her just like everything had been a mystery for the Golden Trio. And seeing that mystery, made her feel like she was the one who lived that, like she was back at Hogwarts or out destroying horcruxes with her two best friends. It reminded her of when she was happy, yet it wasn't for her.

She just couldn't see herself doing this for the rest of her life.

She would rather be back in England, with her friends at her side and with the career she wanted to live. But she also wanted to go back to England with her parents at her side as well. And the fact that they still had no clue they had a daughter and that their life ambition wasn't to move to Australia, kept Hermione nailed to the spot. She couldn't leave without them and that was why she didn't.

That was why she didn't go back after her counter curse had failed. That was why she didn't go back after her heart had been broken beyond repair and she had spent days of exile locked in a hotel room. That was why she hadn't gotten any sleep. That was why had practically starved herself with the grief that her parents might never be her parents again because she couldn't figure out what she did wrong. That was why she didn't go back seven months ago.

All because something had happened, something that she couldn't explain.

And after the days she spent grieving in her hotel room about the fact that she might never see her parents as her parents again, she finally woke up. She looked in the mirror and saw who she was. She was Hermione Granger. She was a war hero, the brightest witch of her age, and a Gryffindor. She could do this if she put her mind to it. She could figure out what had happened with her parents and she could fix it, no matter how long it took. And with that in mind, Hermione got up from the bed, wiped the tears off her face, grabbed her purse, and walked out the door to the only place she knew of in Australia that had a magical community.

Adelaide, Australia. It was the fifth largest city in Australia, the capital of South Australia, and also the location of Australia's own Ministry of Magic.

Knowing its location from reading about it, Hermione found it with ease and entered like she had been there on countless occasions. She approached the front desk and smiled back at the witch sitting on the opposite side. She needed a job, and with the Australian Ministry of Magic being the only place she could think of to go, she had limited choices. The lady smiled at her again, telling her that she would take a quick look to see what was available, when somebody suddenly called her name.

Hermione turned around to see a short, very plump man, with big, dark blue eyes, and a long mustache that ran past his chin, approaching her. Hermione was reminded of a walrus straight away, and although she didn't know this man, he was smiling at her, so she smiled back politely. "Are you Hermione Granger?" He asked. Hermione looked down at the man who only came up to her shoulders and nodded her head. The man's smile grew and he suddenly got all excited, extending his hand for Hermione to shake. Still unaware of who the man was, Hermione shook his hand anyway and continued to smile back. "The name's Joshua Warbeck. Owner and publisher of Australia's top wizarding magazine: _The Magic Down Under_."

"It's nice to meet you." Hermione said as he finally released his tight grip on his hands.

"Now what, if you don't mind me asking, would one of England's brightest witches and one of Harry Potter's best friends being doing here… in Adelaide?"

"My parents moved here during the war and now I can't get them to move back." It was almost the truth, but she didn't even know the man in front of her. She wasn't about to tell him, especially after he had just called her England's brightest witch, that she wasn't able to reverse the spell she put on her parents and was now stuck here. "I'll be here as long as they are here."

Mr. Warbeck nodded in understanding. "So what brings you here to our Ministry?"

"I'm on a job search." Hermione said with a little laugh.

She watched as Mr. Warbeck's face suddenly lit up as he became all excited. "Job search you say?" Hermione nodded. "Well then look no further Ms. Granger. I happen to be looking for a new reporter for my paper and would be honored if you joined my team. Knowing your history and seeing how intelligent you are, I would have no problem hiring you this second."

"That is a generous offer-"

"Indeed it is." He said cutting her off with a smile. "Not an offer that people usually turn down. Why don't you come with me to my office and we can talk more on the matter there." Before Hermione could protest, the man was already walking back in the direction he had come from. And with limited choices and the knowledge that she could make a brilliant writer if she put her mind to it, Hermione followed.

She had every intention of landing the job, working to get an apartment, and on the days she had free to herself, she would study every book known to man until she could find the way to break the spell she had placed on her parents.

And she was still trying.

There was a sudden knock on her door as she was placing her notes from the previous day inside of the folder she had chose for that date. "Come in!" She yelled, not bothering to look up when she heard the door open and then shut. She continued to organize her work, jotting down quick notes that she remembered and placing them to the side, as her visitor slowly approached her desk. "Is there anything I can do for you?" Hermione asked, still not looking up and still having no clue as to who was standing in front of her. When she heard a small laugh, she finally looked up and nearly jumped out of her skin. "Oh, Mr. Warbeck!" She said jumping out of her seat, more shocked than anything else.

"Working hard I see." He said, glancing down at all the papers she had left still spilled out over her desk. Hermione apologized and then quickly began cleaning them up. Mr. Warbeck simply laughed some more. "No need to worry yourself over my visit Ms. Granger." He said with a warm smile. "I just simply wanted to talk to you about something."

Hermione stopped cleaning up instantly and nodded at her boss. "Of course. Please, take a seat." Hermione pointed to the two chairs that sat facing her desk and once her boss was seated, she followed her own advice. She bit her lower lip nervously and waited for her boss to speak.

"It was luck, wouldn't you say, that I ran into you on that day when you were coming into the Ministry for a job?" Hermione nodded, not sure where this was going. "You have been one of the best things that has happened to his newspaper in years. We have sold more copies than ever before, everybody eager to read your perfect articles. You're an amazing worker and the best reporter I have ever hired."

"Thank you, sir." Hermione said quietly.

"You came in with no knowledge of how to work in a newspaper company and write such amazing articles like the ones you have already writer, that it is no wonder you are England's brightest witch. I wouldn't be surprised if you are the Worlds brightest witch." Hermione stared back at her boss, not expecting the compliments and still not knowing where he was going with them. "You come into work single day of the week and you stay for hours on end. You are never late and you never leave a second early. You also never cease to surprise me.

"You are aware, as I'm sure you are, of the article of the month?"

"Of course, sir."

"I should have done this months ago, Ms. Granger. I'm sorry." He said in a quieter voice, leaning forward in the chair. "If you would like it, you can take this month's article."

Hermione looked back at her boss, completely shell shocked, a small smile quickly appearing on her face. "Sir, the article of the month is-"

"An amazing honor. It is also not one I usually give to people who have only been employed with me for seven months. I need to make sure I can trust the person who I am giving it to considering it's a big responsibility."

"Yes, sir."

"The person who is writing the article of the month usually travels to another place or country, a place unlike our own to get a story on something from another part of the world that would interest our readers. You are aware of all of this, am I correct?"

"Yes. I read the article of the month every month it comes out. It is one of my favorite parts of our newspaper."

"Brilliant!" Mr. Warbeck said, suddenly standing up and clapping his hands together. "I take it you accept my offer?"

"Oh, yes sir." Hermione said with a smile. "Do you mind if I ask where it is I will be going?"

"Of course not, my dear." Mr. Warbeck smiled at Hermione before reaching into his pocket and pulling out a pamphlet that was stuffed with papers. "All the information you will need, along with you plane ticket is in there. I think you will enjoy the place you are going." He winked at her as Hermione took the pamphlet and looked at her plane ticket.

"London!" She exclaimed, half excited to be going back and half upset. Going back home would be amazing. She would be able to see all her friends and the people she called family again. But once she saw them, would she have the heart enough to come back home and continue living her life without them?

"That's right. And I'm sure you'll enjoy the assignment I am going to be giving you as well. A clothing store opened up in Diagon Alley about six months ago and the designer, who is also the owner of the store, became increasingly popular in that short period of time. The place is called _The Purple Pansy_ and I would like for you to go and scoop it out for me. Get some good pictures of the place as well as some of the clothing, an interview with the designer, write me an amazing article, and then you'll have to mail me the article seeing as an owl wouldn't be able to make it that far." He finished with a smile still plastered on his face.

"Sir, couldn't I just bring the article back with me rather than mailing it to you?" Hermione asked.

"Ah, well I have another small surprise for you. You have been here for seven months now, correct?" Hermione nodded. "And out of all those months, how many days off have you taken?" Hermione looked at her boss as she thought and it shocked her that she couldn't remember her last day off. Mr. Warbeck laughed. "You work way to hard for you age Ms. Granger. You could use a vacation, and seeing as you've worked here long enough to earn a paid vacation, I am sending you on one."

"Oh, sir-"

"No buts." Mr. Warbeck said, cutting her off and putting his hand up to stop her from talking. "You'll be going to a familiar place and seeing as you haven't been there in months, I think you'll rather enjoy the time off where you can be with friends." He put his hand down and placed it in his pocket before continuing. "When the person is doing the article of the month, they get one week to do it. Knowing you, Ms. Granger, it'll only take you a couple of days. Finish the article, mail it to me, and then take the rest of the time as a vacation." He smiled at her yet again and then turned to leave. Hermione opened her mouth to protest, but stopped once he turned back around again. "Your plane leaves this Tuesday at 11 a.m.. That's the eighth. Like I said, you have one week to do the assignment and then a week vacation. You should be back to work the twenty second."

And before Hermione could say anything else, he was out the door.

She sighed as she looked down at the pamphlet and started reading over it. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad. It could be fun, going back home and seeing everybody. And she would just have to remember the fact that her parents were in Australia, and that would help to bring her back with them, to where she belonged. Not to mention that she did really need a vacation. And her boss did have a point. She could finish that article within a couple days without any trouble. It would be like a twelve day paid vacation, and an earned one for sure.

No it wouldn't be so bad.

Hermione flipped through the pages and looked down at the one about the shop she would be visiting. She skimmed through the information and stopped dead when she noticed the name of the owner, her blood suddenly running cold. No wonder the name struck her as odd. Only one person would name their store after themselves.

Pansy Parkinson. Hermione threw her head back against her chair and let out a long groan.

She had spoke to soon.

* * *

_Hello everybody!_

_i hope you guys liked this chapter and i hope i made everything clear enough for you to understand. If i didn't, then just let me know and i'll be sure to clear it up for you : )_

_i'm happy to see you're all enjoying the story so far. and don't worry. Hermione and Draco are going to be seeing each other in the next couple of chapters ; )_

_remember to review!_


	4. Disliking Her

_I'm dedicating this chapter to dracomalfoyswifey!  
__

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__Thanks to those who reviewed last chapter:  
_jessirose85_: is it possible for a slytherin and a gryffindor to become so close they can be like sisters? maybe... ;)  
_mjmusiclover_: i know. i feel so bad for Hermione to. she's going through hell and i hate doing it to her, but it has to be done.  
_dracomalfoyswifey_: guys are jerks. that's why we do fanfiction where we can let our minds wander and put ourselves in Hermione's position and pretend for just those couple minutes that were in heaven with none other then Draco Malfoy *drools* lol. i hope you're doing better!  
_kydarkangel207_: i'm happy that you're enjoying the story and thanks for the compliment!_

Just to brighten up her day that much more :)

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_Last Chapter: She sighed as she looked down at the pamphlet and started reading over it. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad. It could be fun, going back home and seeing everybody. And she would just have to remember the fact that her parents were in Australia, and that would help to bring her back with them, to where she belonged. Not to mention that she did really need a vacation. And her boss did have a point. She could finish that article within a couple days without any trouble. It would be like a twelve day paid vacation, and an earned one for sure._

_No it wouldn't be so bad._

_Hermione flipped through the pages and looked down at the one about the shop she would be visiting. She skimmed through the information and stopped dead when she noticed the name of the owner, her blood suddenly running cold. No wonder the name struck her as odd. Only one person would name their store after themselves._

_Pansy Parkinson. Hermione through her head back against her chair and let out a long groan._

_She had spoke to soon._

* * *

Four

It wasn't that Draco didn't like Pansy.

No, they had had their fun in Hogwarts. They enjoyed each other's company and really were great friends despite everybody's belief that Draco couldn't stand the girl. Draco even found himself attracted to her when they were in their young teenage years, and this only helped to make their friendship grow even more. He always said that if he hadn't had Crabbe and Goyle in Hogwarts, he would always have Pansy. She was a true friend, and the only one he was friends with in Hogwarts that he still talked to, unless you counted Blaise.

But Draco didn't consider Blaise his friend in Hogwarts. They were just acquaintances. They just happened to both be sorted in Slytherin, both be in the same year which put them in the same classes and dorm room, both seemed to have a hatred for Potter, both purebloods with a high wizarding last name, and not to mention the fact that Blaise was his way in on what had happened in Slughorn's little gatherings, or what other people called them: The Slug Club, in his sixth year.

But Blaise landed himself a job in the Ministry, the same department Draco worked for, and the two seemed to hit it off straight away. They both had nobody but their families and were desperate for somebody they could compare their lives to. Sure, Draco's past was a little darker then Blaise's, but they soon realized that they had a lot in common. Draco now considered Blaise his best mate, and Blaise did the same for Draco.

The war had changed them both, and in doing so, molded them into each other's lives for good.

But the war hadn't just changed Draco and Blaise… it had changed everybody. And Pansy wasn't any different. Draco hadn't decided to give Pansy the money to open up her shop just because it would benefit him in the end or because Pansy had brought up his past. He had done it because he wanted to. He did it because he knew that Pansy really was different and that she needed a chance just like he was given one. And he was the way for her to get that chance. By giving her the money she needed to open her business, he opened up a new world of possibilities for her.

And apparently, he had made a good deal for Pansy and himself.

He didn't know how it happened, because it all happened so fast, but it did. Pansy had bought the shop she wanted and the next day she was at Draco's doorstep begging him to come and help her fix it up. A week later, both completely exhausted with plenty of scratches, scrapes, and bruises to prove their hard work, a beautiful shop stood before them.

They both stood outside of the shop with their arms crossed over their chest and smiles on their faces as they glanced up at it. The outside was painted a teal color that made her store stand out from all the others, with bright purple window frames covering the bay windows on the bottom and top floor. Over the top of the front door was the name of her shop painted in the same purple as the window frames: _The Purple Pansy_. And sitting on the left side of the name was a huge pansy, charmed to move slowly to make it look like it was fluttering in a small breeze.

Pansy looked up at Draco and smiled at him. He turned, looked at her, and couldn't help but smile back. He had never seen her so happy. "It looks great." He said as Pansy enveloped him in a huge hug, almost knocking him to the ground.

With a help wanted sign out front, Pansy in her office designing outfits and charming her supplies to make them for her, and an advertisement out in _The Daily Prophet_ (thanks to Draco), Pansy had the shop open a week later.

Two months later, business was booming. Pansy's shop had started to attract a lot of attention and she was bringing in more money then she had ever hoped for in the first two months of opening. Plenty of people were stopping by, and not just shoppers, but reporters who were hoping to get the scoop and business men as well, all hoping to invest in her shop or have her sell some of their products for them.

And now, seven months later, the same was still happening.

That was why Draco wasn't surprised as he walked down Diagon Alley on the cold spring morning, his hands kept warm inside of his cloak, to see a bustle of people heading straight for the familiar teal building. He quickly made his way over towards Pansy's shop and opened the door, holding it open for a lady as she left, and then walked in. He pulled his hands out of his pocket and quickly removed his gloves from them, then placing them inside his cloak for safe keeping. He approached the front counter where one of Pansy's employees was leaning over the counter, biting her lower lip and looking down a long list of what Draco guessed was Pansy's new ideas for outfits.

"Hello Amanda." He said in a cheerful voice as he unbuttoned the first couple of buttons of his cloak and loosened his scarf.

Amanda looked up suddenly, a surprised look on her face that changed to a smile the second she saw who had called her. "Oh… hello Mr. Malfoy." She said standing up properly. "How are you this morning?"

"I am good." Draco said as he turned his head sideways to look at the paper Amanda had previously been looking at. "Pansy's new ideas?" He asked, getting a nod from Amanda. He turned the paper over so it was right side up for him and gave it a quick look. His eyes were immediately drawn to a lime green, tea length dress. He pushed the paper back to Amanda and put the tip of his index finger on the one he liked. "That one."

Amanda smiled back. "I like that one to."

"Then I guess we have a winner." Draco said back kindly with a small laugh. "Is Pansy in her office?" Amanda nodded her response as Draco thanked her, and then went back to reviewing the paper. Draco made his way up the spiral staircase, nodding politely at all the customers he passed, before walking through the curtain that led to the stock room, then eventually making his way towards Pansy's office. He knocked two times and then opened the door without waiting for a response.

Pansy looked up to see who had entered her office, but when she noticed it was Draco, she quickly lowered her head back to her work. "What, no hello?" Draco asked, closing the door behind him.

"I'm really busy right now Draco." Pansy said with her nose still buried in the paper work. "I'm not in the mood for your sarcasm."

"Who said it was sarcasm? You didn't say hello to me. I was simply pointing that out." Pansy just shook her head and continued on working. "Why are you so busy anyway? You usually leave the business end to me and tend to your customers and their questions. That," Draco pointed to the papers in front of Pansy. "looks like stuff from the business end."

Pansy suddenly dropped her quill and looked up at Draco, a pissed off expression painted on her face. "Do you know why I'm doing the business end of the work? Do you, Draco?" Draco looked down at Pansy, trying to keep a serious face as he could sense a lecture coming on. "I'm doing it because you're not!"

Draco rolled his eyes and plopped down on one of the seats in front of Pansy's desk before groaning. "Oh my God."

"Don't 'oh my God' me Draco Malfoy." Pansy snapped, picking up her quill and continuing to write again. "You said you would help me manage the place, and you were doing a good job at the beginning, but now you're never here."

"Things have happened in the ministry. There's nothing I can do about that Pansy. That's my immediate job."

"Well things have been happening around here to. I have really needed your help and you haven't been here. You haven't been sticking to your end of the bargain." Draco let out a little laugh, causing Pansy to look up and shoot him a glare before she turned back to her work. "I'm stressed, Draco." She was suddenly calm. "I need a vacation."

Draco really laughed this time. "A vacation? Pansy you haven't even been at this business for a year yet and you already want a vacation?"

"Yes." Pansy put down her quill. "Most people take vacations after six months of working."

"Well good thing you're not most people." Draco snapped suddenly. "Most people don't have a business to run."

"You're right. But most people who have a business, have a business partner that sticks by them and actually does what he said he would do from the beginning." Pansy snapped back.

Draco shook his head and gave Pansy a little smile. "I'm here, aren't I?"

"Finally." Pansy said under her breath.

"So tell me, why are you so stressed?" Draco asked, picking up a paper weight that was sitting on Pansy's desk and studying it in his hand.

"Because," Pansy reached over the desk and quickly snatched the paper weight back from Draco's hand before putting it back where it was in the first place. "I just found out today that the Australian Wizarding Magazine: _The Magic Down Under_, is sending one of their best reporters to my shop. They want to interview me and get pictures of my shop and clothes so they can put me in as their article of the month."

"And… that's bad how?" Draco asked slowly, crossing his arms over his chest.

Pansy rolled her eyes. "The fact that one of Australia's best wizarding magazines is coming to interview me is _amazing_."

"But…."

Pansy sighed, looking up at Draco with a warning in her eyes. "You won't believe who the reporter is." Pansy said quietly.

"Who?" Draco was truly curious.

"I'll give you some hints." Pansy straightened up in her chair and cleared her throat. "She was in our year at Hogwarts, fought against Voldemort, was part of the D.A., was a Gryffindor, was one of Potter's best friends-"

"No!" Draco stood up right away, practically knocking the chair to the ground. "Not...-"

Pansy quickly picked up what looked like a letter and began reading from it. "To Ms. Pansy Parkinson. I am delighted to hear that you will allow my reporter, Ms. Hermione Granger, to come and get an interview from you as well as some pictures. I can guarantee that you will be satisfied when you see the article, seeing as Ms. Granger is the best I have ever seen in my newspaper." Pansy stopped and put the letter back down on her desk, still looking up at Draco. Draco stared back at Pansy, mouth open from shock and at a complete loss for words. "Say something, Draco!" Pansy yelled, slapping her desk dramatically.

"This is bullshit!"

"Yup. That's the Draco I know." Pansy said under her breath, returning back to her work.

"Granger is… Granger! I mean, come on, 'best he's ever seen'? The girl has some intelligence up in that bushy head of hers, but I wouldn't call her the best!"

Pansy laughed slightly. "As much as I hate her myself, you have to give her credit." Pansy put her quill down and looked up at Draco who was shaking his head, obviously trying to think of a way out of this. "And she has more than _some_ intelligence Draco. She was the best in our year and some people even call her the brightest witch in London."

"Well, apparently not anymore if she's a reporter for an _Australian_ wizarding newspaper?" Draco suddenly sank back into the chair he had previously occupied. "What's that about anyway? When did she go to Australia?"

"I don't know." Pansy snapped. "How would I know?"

Draco smirked at Pansy and she rolled her eyes at him, already knowing what was coming. "You're Pansy Parkinson. Gossiper of the year."

"Yes, well that was back in Hogwarts. And Granger never concerned me then so why should she concern me now?" Draco rolled his eyes and leaned back in his chair even more, sighing and muttering something under his breath that sounded to Pansy like a lot of complaining. "And I don't see why you're so worried about her coming. It's not like you'll have to see her. She's giving me the _bloody_ interview!"

"Yeah, and all I'll hear after she's done is you complaining."

Pansy glared at Draco for a fraction of a second before she smirked at him. "Then how about you do the interview and I'll listen to you complain after it's done." She retorted.

"No!" Draco yelled instantly, getting a good snicker from Pansy. "It's not funny." Draco said seriously, only causing Pansy to laugh even harder. "I hate that bushy haired, buck tooth, bookworm more then I hate my own father, and that's saying something."

"Stop it." Pansy said, still laughing slightly but turning back to her work all the same. "You don't hate you're father and you don't actually hate her. You changed, remember?"

"I do to hate her!" Draco snapped back at Pansy, but when she looked up at him and rolled her eyes before going back to her work, Draco sighed. "Fine. I don't _hate_ her, but I dislike her to the point of hexing her into oblivion. The only good thing about Granger is the fact that she helped kill off Voldemort. Without her, Potter, and the Weasel I would still be in that hell hole I was in about eight months ago."

Draco sighed and watched as Pansy continued to write. After a few moments of silence, Pansy spoke. "So what are you doing here anyway?"

"I was on lunch and thought I would stop by. I should probably get going though." Draco stood up and buttoned up his cloak. "I have a meeting and Blaise will kill me if I'm late and he has to cover for me."

Pansy let out a sarcastic laugh. "You know, for a moment there, I almost thought you came here to help me. I _almost_ thought that you actually came to do what you said you would do."

"Just for a moment?" Draco asked with fake seriousness.

"Just one millisecond of a moment."

"Well," Draco smirked at her as he put his gloves back on and tightened his scarf around his neck. "The good news is you can't say I never show up anymore, because I just did." Draco grabbed the doorknob and got ready to leave the room.

"You're really not going to help me?" Pansy whined back.

Draco rolled his eyes and turned back to Pansy. "I'll stop by when I'm done work and I'll take care of the financial stuff, alright?" Pansy's face lit up as she smiled back at Draco. "Just promise me you won't involve me when it comes to Granger getting here? If I can help it, I never want to see that beaver ever again."

Pansy laughed. "You help me and I'll keep Granger _far_ away from you."

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_I'm really enjoying writing this story! I hope you guys like reading just the same._

_Please remember to review guys! Hermione and Pansy meet next chapter!_


	5. How Wrong She Was

_Last Chapter: Draco rolled his eyes and turned back to Pansy. "I'll stop by when I'm done work and I'll take care of the financial stuff, alright?" Pansy's face lit up as she smiled back at Draco. "Just promise me you won't involve me when it comes to Granger getting here? If I can help it, I never want to see that beaver ever again."_

_Pansy laughed. "You help me and I'll keep Granger far away from you."_

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Five

April 8th  
Day of Departure to London

The sun had yet to rise over the horizon, turning the clouds that were high in the sky a bright pink. The sky was a dark blue rather than the normal blackness of the night and birds were just starting to wake up and sing in the trees outside. Hermione's alarm went off and she quickly slammed her hand down on it before rubbing her eyes and sitting up. With her legs hanging off her bed, she quickly stretched, then stood up and approached the window where she drew the curtains and glanced around at the streets below. The streets weren't crowded, only a few people would drive by in their cars on their way to work.

Hermione groaned in envy of them, wishing she could be doing them same rather than getting a plane and having to sit there for the 22 hour flight back to London, where she would endure hell from none other than Pansy Parkinson.

Sighing, she headed for the bathroom, shutting the door and locking it, then starting up the shower. She quickly undressed and then jumped into the warm steaming water, allowing it to smack her in the face as she closed her eyes and inhaled the steam from the shower. As she showered, she couldn't help but think about how bad this week was going to be, especially since she would have to endure Pansy.

She hated Pansy Parkinson more than anybody she could think of. Well, that wasn't necessarily true. There was always Voldemort, but everybody hated Voldemort, so she didn't really count him. Besides, he was on a much bigger scale then Pansy. Voldemort had wanted nothing more than to hurt and destroy people who he thought weren't as good as he was. He had killed hundreds and damaged people's lives beyond repair. Like Harry's for example. Harry would never know his parents because Voldemort had killed him, and you can't bring back the dead. And Ron. Ron would never see Fred again.

Or Neville Longbottom. Sure, Neville still got to go see his parents, but it wasn't really the same. Sometimes, Hermione felt worse for him then she did for Harry. Neville's parents might still be alive, but the fact that they were completely insane and didn't even recognize their own son when he went to visit him, must of drove him insane. Hermione sometimes thought, although it was a rather awful thing to think, that he would have been better off with his parents not being alive. His heart would only break once rather than every time he went to visit them. She could almost compare to him with her parents not remembering her, but it still didn't feel the same. At least her parents were crazy.

But after excluding Voldemort, there was nobody worse than Pansy. She wanted nothing more to belittle everybody who wasn't a Slytherin or didn't agree with her. She had made fun of Hermione on several occasions, making fun of her hair and her over sized front teeth (that were luckily fixed), embarrassing her to where her whole face would turn the color of Ron's hair and she would just have to walk away. If Hermione was any worse of a person, she would have thrown comments right back at Pansy. She did look like a pug in more ways than one, and Hermione believed her to be the Slytherin slut.

Yes, there was nobody worse than Pansy Parkinson. "Stupid pug faced, gossip throwing, drama causing, Slytherin." Hermione found herself cursing under her breath. "Always hanging all over Malfoy and…-"

She froze in the middle of rinsing the condition out of her hair. Draco Malfoy.

If there was ever a time when she was wrong, it was now. Pansy Parkinson didn't even compare to how much she hated Draco Malfoy.

Everywhere she turned, it felt like Malfoy was always right there, waiting for her so he could tease her and constantly test her patience. It was a miracle she hadn't lost her patience with him and attacked him when they were in Hogwarts.

She smiled suddenly and gave a little laugh as she turned the water off and climbed out of the shower after wrapping her towel around her.

She _had_ lost her patience with him to some extent in her third year. He was such an annoying prat and she was so tired of him thinking he was unstoppable, that when they ran into him as he made fun of Hagrid, she had slapped him across the face with all her might. The look Ron and Harry exchanged before glancing back at her and the fact that Malfoy had fled the scene yelling curses and threats was enough of an award for her.

But still, he had made fun of her and brought her down so many times that that didn't even feel like it mattered. He had called her mudblood more times than she could count, had constantly picked on her for the smallest things, made fun of Harry and Ron which only made her hatred for him grow, and not to mention what had happened at Malfoy Manor close to a year ago. The way he acted was strange, now that she really thought about it. He hadn't wanted to say that the snatchers had actually caught her, Harry, and Ron at first, making her think that maybe… just maybe, he really did have a good heart. It made her think that maybe he didn't want to be in this war as much as any of them wanted to be in it. They were all too young to be fighting a war anyway, even if they were the only ones who could stop it.

But even thinking about it now, she still became enraged at the thought of that dreaded night in Malfoy Manor. After Harry and Ron had been taken down to the dungeon and she was kept to be tortured by Bellatrix Lestrange, her mind had been made up. Draco Malfoy didn't care about them. He only cared about himself. Because, if he cared about them, he would have stepped in and stopped the torture from taking place. Instead, he kept his back to them and didn't say anything. If he said something, he surely would have been the next to get tortured. And why would Draco Malfoy, most selfish human being on the planet, want to risk his own pain for somebody else?

Hermione yanked the doors of her closet open with more strength then was necessary, and had to close her eyes and take a deep breath to calm herself down. She hated thinking about the war because it always seemed to make her so angry. She wanted to forget it. To remove it from her brain and store it far, far away to where it would never come back to her. But that wasn't possible. The war had been a huge part of her life, and something as big as that, can't just get removed from your memories. The only thing you can do is push it farther back into your brain and hope you'll only remember it once in a while.

And that was what Hermione did. Because that part of her life was over.

She sighed as she stood with her arms crossed over her chest, biting the side of her lip, and staring at the outfits she had hanging in her closet. She was going to be going back to London and the first person who would see her would be the one person she hated and had made fun of her hair, teeth, and just how she looked in general.

Hermione smirked, only for it to turn into a very excited smile, as she quickly ran through her closet and picked out the nicest and most un-Hermioneish clothes she could find. She grabbed all the outfits she would need, and using her wand, she packed them all away, and then glanced over at her clock. It was four in the morning. Her plane took off for London at nine. That gave her five hours before her plane would leave and it also gave her plenty of time to become the Hermione that Pansy Parkinson would never expect to see.

The war had changed everybody, so why shouldn't she show it? Besides… there was no point in looking like the same Hermione she was in Hogwarts, because she wasn't the same Hermione.

The war was over.

That part of her life was over.

* * *

April 9th  
Day 1

Walking through muggle London was like walking through a dream or a time that she had forgotten about and just realized was there. Everything was so familiar and yet… it wasn't.

The last time Hermione had walked these streets, the atmosphere was enough to send chills down your spine. It was like the sun wasn't shinning, even though you could feel the rays of heat as they hit your skin. You were surrounded by death, torture, and sadness. Even if you couldn't feel it, you could sense it. But that was months ago.

Now, you couldn't help but notice how happy everybody seemed to be. Everything had changed, nad Hermione couldn't help but smile. They had fought the war so they could do exactly what she was doing now… walk the street knowing somebody wasn't be tormented or bothered by Deatheaters ever second. It made all her pain, starvation, torture, stress, past nerves, and all the sleepless nights worth while.

She continued to walked the street with a skin in her step. There wasn't many people considering it was ten at night, and only made it that much easier to slip down the deserted street un-noticed. She stopped walking when she reached an old beat up building and looked up at the sign. Above her hung the sigh of the pub that was all too familiar to her.

The Leaky Cauldron.

She sighed a content sigh before walking inside. The pub looked exactly like she remembered it, only like the street outside, you could tell the atmosphere was lighter. It was obvious there were no dark wizards inside the pub, and it felt great to know she was finally safe from everything. She approached the bartender, Tom, and smiled at him when they made eye contact. "Hello Tom."

"Ms. Hermione Granger." Tom said, smiling back at her. "I haven't seen you in months."

"I've been away." She answered simply. "I made reservations for a room a couple of nights ago. Do I still have them?"

"Of course." Tom turned behind him and opened up a small cabinet. He looked through all the keys within and finally pulled one from the top shelf and turned to give it to Hermione. "Best room in The Leaky Cauldron."

"Great." Hermione opened up her purse to get out her money. "How much?"

"No charge."

"Oh, no, I couldn't possibly-"

"Ms. Granger… please." Tom said with a small smile. "It's the least I could do after everything you, Mr. Potter, and Mr. Weasley have done."

"But-"

"I am expecting no money from you Ms. Granger. Now your room is up the stairs, all the way down the hall, last door on the right. Brilliant view of Diagon Alley."

Hermione smiled back. "Thank you." She decided she would agree with him for now, only when it was time for her to leave, she would leave the money in the room for them to find later.

She lugged her bags over her shoulders as she climbed the stairs, then entered her room. It was the nicest room she had seen in The Leaky Cauldron, although it still had the same touches that the other rooms had. She smiled at how familiar it was to her, and then started to get settled in. She laid out her outfit for the next day, and then jumped into the shower before falling asleep to the bustle of the streets below.

She needed her rest. She had a very important day tomorrow.

* * *

April 10th  
Day 2

She woke up the next morning with a smile on her face, despite what she knew was ahead of her for that day. She climbed out of her bed and walked into her bedroom with her wand in her hand. She licked her lips as she looked at herself in the mirror and ran a hand through her hair. It had turned even bushier during the night and with a quick tap of her wand, it had disappeared and turned tame, forming into the shape of her face.

She pulled on one of her curls and watched as it bounched back like she had never touched it in the first place, then reached inside her make-up bag and pulled out everything she needed. Within a few minutes, she didn't even recognize herself. She smiled confidintally before walking out of the bathroom to get changed. She roamed through her bag before finally deciding on a outfit and putting it on.

Walking back over towards her mirror, she looked at herself and sighed. She was wearing a black skirt, stopping just before her knees, with blue flowers lining the bottom. It was a size smaller then she liked, causing it to hug her every curse. A spaghetti strap tank top, the same blue as the flowers lining her skirt, was covered by a light black, button up, long sleeve sweater, designed for the spring time and perfect for the weather outside. When she buttoned it halfway up, it stuck to her stomach, making her chest pop out farther then she normally liked it.

Her eyes seemed to stick out more than anything else considering they were lined with mascara and eyeliner as her hair ran down her back and over her shoulders in long curls. She turned sideways to get an all around look at herself before deciding that she was as un-Hermioneish as she could become.

She grabbed her messenger bag that held all her reporter supplies, then headed out the door. She walked down Diagon Alley's streets for sever minutes until she turned a corner and saw it. Sitting between two dull and beat up buildings was the most obnoxious building Hermione had ever seen (besides Weasley's Wizard Wheezes). The building was a bright teal with purple window frames, and the fact that the sign had a giant flower that seemed to move like it was blowing in the breeze, only helped it to get noticed more often then not.

She reached into her bag and pulled out her camera as she approached the building. She quickly took a shot and then held her camera in her hand as she walked towards the front door. She sighed as she looked up at the sign, closed her eyes, counted to three, then walked inside.

To say that was surprised would be an understatement. She had expected to walk inside and get the chills straight away, an eerie feeling of being surrounded by something that somebody she hated had created and the fact that the owner was a Slytherin would have helped to create that. But the inside was the exact opposite of that. The atmosphere was what surprised her the most. It was… happy. People were walking around with smiles on their faces and the room seemed to give you kind of a homey feeling. She could spend hours in this place and not want to go, simply because she was so comfortable here.

No wonder this place was so popular.

She pulled out her notebook and quickly started taking notes as she walked around. Every time she saw something interesting, she would snap a quick picture.

As she took a picture of a bright orange dress, she heard somebody clear their throat. She turned and smiled at the girl who stood before her. "Can I help you?" The girl asked Hermione kindly. "I saw you taking pictures."

"Oh, sorry. I should have come to you first. My name is Hermione Granger. I'm from The Magic Down Under. I have an interview with Pansy Parkinson today."

Hermione held out her hand and the girl shook it with a smile. "I was told you were coming. My name's Amanda. I work for Pansy. DO you like the place so far?"

"Yes, actually, I do." The girl smiled at Hermione's answer.

"Great! If you just want to follow me, I'll show you to Pansy's office."

Hermione followed her as she led her towards the back corner of the shop and then up a spiral staircase. They continued to walk through more and more rows of clothing until Amanda led them through a curtain and into the backroom. "You've been the talk of the store for the last couple of the days." Amanda said with a smile, turning and looking at Hermione quickly as they continued to walk. Hermione just smiled back and nodded, thinking that if Pansy was indeed talking about her, it couldn't be anything good.

Amanda suddenly came to a halt when they reached a closed door and knocked a couple of times. Hermione could hear scurrying from behind the door and within a couple of seconds, the door opened and before them stood a smiling Pansy. Pansy looked at Amanda first and then her eyes finally landed on Hermione. They locked eyes and Hermione help but notice that Pansy didn't look like Pansy. Her eyes were filled with what Hermione could only call happiness and her smile was a friendly smile, not a sneer that was about to throw insults into Hermione's face.

As they both stared at each other, Hermione noticed that Pansy's smile faltered for a split second, before it came back even brighter. "Granger?" She asked before Amanda could say anything. "Hermione Granger?"

"Hello Parkinson." Hermione said in an unsure tone. Pansy sounded happy, almost excited, to see Hermione. Almost like they were best friends at one time that had been separated somehow and now finally being reuinited.

"You… look different." Pansy said, looking Hermione up and down. "Did the war change you as well?"

"I guess you could say that." Hermione answered quietly. There was no way this was Pansy Parkinson. Somebody must have knocked out the real Pansy, taken a strand of her hair, and used it in a polyjuice potion. Either that, or the world was coming to an end. She didn't hope for the latter.

"Well… why don't you come inside my office." Pansy opened the door more, thanked Amanda, and then led Hermione inside. "You can sit if you want." Pansy said, pointing to one of the chairs in front of her desk, before walking around her desk and taking a seat in her chair. Hermione took a seat and then pulled out her notepad and pen before looking back up at Pansy. Pansy was staring at Hermione with an expression she couldn't quite read.

"I guess we'll start with questions about how you got started in the clothing business." Hermione clicked her pen and put her notebook on her lap after she crossed her legs, then looked up at Pansy. Pansy, however, was still staring at Hermione. Her smile was no longer as bright as it was before, although it was still visible. Her expression was confused. "Parkinson?"

Pansy suddenly looked away and cleared her throat, laughing slightly. "I'm sorry." She said looking back up at Hermione. "It's just weird looking at you?"

"Weird?" Hermione asked, getting somewhat offended.

Pansy looked sorry as soon as Hermione spoke. "I didn't mean it like that." She said quickly. "It's just I've spent the past couple of days preparing myself for the same old Hermione Granger, bookworm, teacher's pet, and all around goody goody two shoes Gryffindor. But looking at you now… you seem… different." Hermione stared back at Pansy, not knowing what to say.

Finally deciding that Pansy wasn't going to be nasty and she shouldn't be either, Hermione finally smiled back. "Thank you." She said quietly. "You look different to if I don't say so myself."

Pansy smiled brightly. "Thank you. I guess I owe it all to this shop, and the war of course. If it wasn't for the war opening my eyes I probably never would have been able to open this place."

"How did you get this place, anyway? It's lovely and from what I have seen, so is the clothing. The atmosphere is amazing as well."

Pansy laughed slightly. "A very good friend of mine gave me a loan."

Hermione nodded, taking notes as she continued to ask Pansy questions. Not once did she ever consider to think any further into what Pansy had said. Never once did she put the pieces together to figure out which one of Pansy's friends would be able to give her a big enough loan so she could buy the shop.

After about an hour and a half of interviewing, Pansy finally sighed and leaned back in her chair as Hermione started packing up her stuff. "So, Granger-"

"Hermione… please."

Pansy smiled. "Hermione. How long are you planning on staying?"

Hermione sighed. "Well, my boss wanted me to take a vacation, but I'm not so sure if I'm going to."

"Why?"

"Well, I have no place to stay and I don't really want to stay in The Leaky Cauldron for the two weeks I'm supposed to be here. I'll probably just end up going back home to Australia. I can't really stay anyway. I have my cat at home and he needs to be taken care of."

"I'm in the same position you're in, in a way." Pansy said. "I would love a two week vacation, but I can't with the shop. I mean, I can have my assistant manager run it, but he has another job and this is only his second priority. Amanda could probably run it, but she would need some help just a couple hours a day. She can't run the whole thing on her own." Pansy sighed and bit her lip, studying her desk, lost in thoughts. They both sat in silence for a couple seconds before Pansy finally jumped a couple feet in the air and looked at Hermione with a bright smile.

"What?" Hermione asked.

"Your boss wants you to take a vacation but you can't because you have no place to stay and you need somebody to watch your cat, right?"

"Yeah…."

"And I want to take a vacation but I can't because of my shop. So… why don't we just switch lives for those two weeks?!" Pansy yelled suddenly really excited.

"Switch lives?" Hermione asked.

"Yeah! I'll go to your house and stay there for the two weeks, taking care of your cat while your away and you can stay here in London at my place. All you have to do is come and double check on things for me for a couple hours each day. It's like a free vacation!"

"I don't know…-"

"Oh, come on! It'll be fun!" Hermione looked at Pansy and couldn't help but think that maybe she was right. She would have a free home to stay in for the next two weeks. She could have plenty of time to herself and she would be able to catch back up with the world she left several months ago. And poor Pansy. She must be so stressed with work and practically doing all this by herself. Not only would she be doing herself a favor, but she would be doing Pansy a favor as well. "Well…?"

Hermione sighed before smiling and nodding at Pansy. Pansy suddenly jumped up from her seat and crossed her desk, catching Hermione off guard by enveloping her in a hug. Hermione hugged her back, thinking nothing could go wrong.

If only she knew how wrong she actually was.

* * *

_Extra long chapter for you guys! I just wanted to appologize for the lack of updates lately. I blame it on work because were SOOO busy at the begining of the month which means that an eight hour day turns into a 12 hour day and i just end up working till like midnight or later. it sucks, but hey i have to make a living somehow. not to mention i've been having terrible writers block lately. but dont worry, i think it might be coming to an end (crosses fingers) _

_thanks to those who reviewed last chatper: _

dracomalfoyswifey_: draco is TOTALLY drool worthy lol. i hope you enjoyed this one as much as the last and i'm happy you're doing better.  
_Avanell_: i hope this one was more fun then the last one!  
_lacym3_: dont worry. they're going to be meeting very shortly and it'll all be worth the wait ; )  
_David Fishwick_: thanks. i hope your enjoying it  
_mjmusiclover_: hope it was even more enjoyable!  
_soccercrazyfreak_: was it worth the wait?  
_kydarkangel2007_: i hope i do as well and i'm SOOO happy that you're enjoying it that much!  
_ring of rubies_: like i said earlier, your review made me laugh. i'm glad i'm good at guessing lol. i hope you liked this chapter as the much and i hope you'll stay along for the rest of the ride._

_The next chapter should be up in the next couple of days guys. i have to update my other stories first and then i'll get back on track with this one... i promise! _

_Remember to review again guys! They keep me motivated! _

_Oh..... ps for all you Tom Felton fans out there reading this that also like his music (or love it like i do) he has a NEW SONG! i was so excited and it's amazing. just go to and then search for Tom Felton. it's called "lets take it back" and it's amazing. i've almost got it memorized lol! let me know what you think if you listened to it! _


	6. The First Meeting

_Last Chapter: "Oh, come on! It'll be fun!" Hermione looked at Pansy and couldn't help but think that maybe she was right. She would have a free home to stay in for the next two weeks. She could have plenty of time to herself and she would be able to catch back up with the world she left several months ago. And poor Pansy. She must be so stressed with work and practically doing all this by herself. Not only would she be doing herself a favor, but she would be doing Pansy a favor as well. "Well…?"_

_Hermione sighed before smiling and nodding at Pansy. Pansy suddenly jumped up from her seat and crossed her desk, catching Hermione off guard by enveloping her in a hug. Hermione hugged her back, thinking nothing could go wrong._

_If only she knew how wrong she actually was._

* * *

_A/N: And now... the chapter you've all been waiting for! Can i get a drum roll please......_

* * *

Six

April 11th  
Day 4

"You have got to be fucking kidding me!"

"Don't raise your voice at me Draco Malfoy!" Pansy pushed her hair behind her ears and continued to write out everything that needed to be taken care of at her store while she was away on vacation.

"This is ridicules Pansy!" Draco continued to yell as he stared down at Pansy with shock. "How could you do this to me?"

Pansy sighed and looked up at him. "Draco… I need a vacation. I told you that the other day."

"And what did I tell you?"

"You told me that most people who own a business don't take vacations."

"Exactly." Draco said, looking like he had just won the argument and taking a seat at the chairs that faced Pansy's desk.

Pansy smirked. "You also told me that I wasn't a normal person." Draco, who was studying his hands, looked up at Pansy and shook his head in disbelief. "I'm taking this vacation Draco."

"This isn't fair!" Draco was suddenly on his feet again. "You can't just desert me like this for two weeks and leave me with just _Granger_!"

"I'm not leaving you with 'just Granger' Draco. You'll have Amanda to help as well. And besides, I bet you guys will rarely see each other."

"We'll have to run your shop together, Pansy." Draco rolled his eyes. "How will we rarely see each other?"

"I told Hermione that she-"

"Wait." Draco interrupted Pansy and stared at her with his mouth open slightly. "Hermione? Did you really just call her Hermione?"

"Yes. I did. Is that a problem?"

"Oh my God, I can't believe this is happening to me." Draco said under his breath as he fell back into the chair with his hand pressed against his forehead.

"You know, Draco…," Pansy started, picking her quill back up and continuing to write. "If you came after work to help with all my bills and the paper work, _like you promised you would_, I might have considered not sticking you with Hermione. But you never came and decided to break your promise."

"So… that's what this is then? Payback?" Draco said, taking his hands off his forehead and glaring up at Pansy. "Just because something came up in my job and I had to stay and work overtime, now I have to deal with Granger for two weeks."

"Something always comes up." Pansy said under her breath, rolling her eyes and continuing to write. "And that's not the reason I decided to go. It was just a minor contributing factor."

"Minor contributing factor my ass." Draco snapped. "You did this on purpose."

"I did not!" Pansy said back, shocked Draco would accuse her of such a thing.

Draco, on the other hand, ignored her and kept on going like she never spoke. "While you're off having a blast on 'the land down under', I'll be stuck here… in Hell, with Granger none the less. It's ridicules!"

"Will you stop thinking of yourself for once in your life?!" Pansy snapped.

"Well that's what you did when you decided to book this trip out of the blue."

"I was not only thinking about myself." Pansy sighed and put her quill down. "I was thinking about you as well when I made the decision to go on this vacation."

Draco laughed and rolled his eyes. "Yeah, right. If you were thinking about me at all you would have remembered that I hate that busy haired beaver and forcing me to spend two weeks with her would be a bad idea."

"Draco-"

"No, bad is an understatement. More like… awful idea. No, atrocious idea. Making me spent two weeks with Granger would be an atrocious idea!"

"It won't be that bad. I promise."

Draco laughed. "How do you know it won't be bad? Did you suddenly become good at divination? Because if I remember correctly, you almost failed that subject in Hogwarts."

"You know how you're always saying that the war changed _everybody_?" Pansy asked, ignoring his comment about her almost failing a subject.

"Yeah…?" Draco said, not sure where she was going with this.

"Well… Granger's no different." Pansy sighed. "From what I could see, she's really changed. I would even say she could pass for beautiful."

Draco suddenly let out a little laugh. "Okay." He rolled his eyes. "Are you telling me that bushy haired, buck tooth, goody two shoes Granger isn't goody two shoes Granger anymore?"

"That's exactly what I'm saying. She looks like a different person. And her appearance is one of the reasons I decided to do this." Pansy looked at Draco seriously. "Maybe she'll have some affect on you."

"Are you saying that you did this to hook me up with Granger?"

"I'm saying that if anybody deserves somebody good… it's you."

"What is that supposed to mean?"

"It's mean that those girls you hook up with every night aren't exactly what I call 'good material'."

"I do not hook up with a girl every night." Draco said defensively.

Pansy grinned at Draco. "Did you wake up in your bed or someone else's this morning?"

"My bed." Draco snapped.

"And was the space next to you empty?" Draco opened his mouth to argue, but closed it immediately and kept quiet. Pansy smirked back. "I rest my case. I can read you like a book Draco, and right now all I can read is 'one night stand'." Draco rolled his eyes and turned to glance around the room, ignoring Pansy's gaze. "Hey…." Pansy called, suddenly sounding serious. "You went from being a two faced, snobby, selfish blonde to being a gentlemen, kind hearted, and amazing friend in just a few months." Draco sighed and looked over at Pansy as she smiled back at him. "If anybody deserves a chance to prove themselves… it's you."

Draco watched as Pansy smiled at him and he couldn't help but smile back. "What time are you leaving?"

* * *

Hermione woke up the next morning with a smile on her face. She had had the best sleep in months and she had Pansy to thank for that.

The night before, her and Pansy met up and exchanged their house keys then said their goodbye's for the next two weeks. With her bags already packed, Hermione quickly apparated to Pansy's address and her mouth fell open in awe at the apartment. It was twice the size of hers and overlooked a small lake. Hermione stuck the key in the door and opened that to find that she immediately fell in the love with the home. The walls were painted bright, yet soothing, colors that made Hermione smile. Pictures covered the walls along with paintings and everywhere she looked, a flower was visible.

In the living room was a fireplace, and sitting opposite the fireplace was a huge bookshelf. The kitchen was stocked with every kind of food Hermione could dream of, and it was lined with huge bay windows that overlooked the beautiful lake. Sitting in-between the two windows was a sliding door that led out to the patio, complete with a table.

After stretching and showering, Hermione walked into the kitchen and made herself some scrambled eggs. Knowing that it was a nice day out, she carried her breakfast outside and ate her eggs under the warm sunlight as she watched the birds in the trees.

Once finished, she retreated back to her room where she changed into a pair of white skinny jeans, a short sleeved, v neck, yellow top that hugged her hips perfectly alongside her jeans, and a cute pair or black flats. She quickly tapped her wand to her hair, taking all the frizz away and then applied her makeup. She smiled at herself in the mirror, and when she was satisfied with her work, she grabbed her purse and her wand and quickly apparated to Diagon Alley.

She walked the streets, smiling at everybody considering she was in a particularly good mood, and checked her watch. Pansy had told her to go to her shop at around 11 and that her assistant manager would be there to meet her. It was almost quarter of eleven, so Hermione started making her way over.

Within a few minutes, the shop was visible and Hermione decided that she should just go in and maybe have a talk with Amanda and see if she needed help with anything. She pushed the door open and rounded the corner, heading for the front desk of the store. As she walked there, her attention was on all the new clothing that Pansy had put out before she left, and she didn't look up until she was only several feet from the desk. And when she did look up… she regretted it that very second.

Standing behind the desk, a quill in his hand and a smile plastered on his face, was none other than Draco Malfoy.

She just stood there, staring at him, shock keeping her glued to the spot. She wanted to do something. She wanted to turn around and sprint out the door, but she couldn't. Not only were her feet stopping her from moving, but at that very second, he had looked up and spotted her.

The smile he had plastered on his face disappeared slightly, but yet not all the way. He stared back at Hermione with what she could only describe as confusion and sudden interest. His eyes seemed to travel down her body and then back up again before settling back on her face where he just stared back into her chocolate brown eyes. "Hello Granger." He finally said, the smile growing slightly. And that's what got to Hermione more than anything else. He was _smiling_ at her… not _smirking_. Hermione, who didn't know what to say, just stared back at him, her mouth opening and closing every few seconds making her look like a fish out of water. "You okay Granger?" Draco repeated.

And then Hermione realized something else. Even though she was extremely surprised to see him here… he wasn't surprised to see her. "You know, Malfoy, it's weird. I'm… _shocked_ to see you but you… you don't seem shocked to see me standing here at all."

Draco laughed slightly and rubbed the back of his neck nervously. "Pansy gave me a heads up."

"Oh… did she now?" Hermione asked sarcastically. "Nice of her to give me one as well. What are you doing here anyway?" She had a hunch she knew already, but she was praying to God that she was wrong. Maybe he was just here shopping. Maybe what she saw him writing was a check, not paper work that had to do with Pansy's shop.

"I guess you could say I work here." He paused for a second, taking in Hermione's reaction. "I'm her assistant manager."

"You?" Hermione asked, letting out a nervous laugh. "You're the 'good friend' who gave her all the money so she could start this business?"

Draco cleared his throat and then nodded. "Yeah… that's me."

Hermione stared back at him, not knowing what to say next. Just as Draco was about to open his mouth to say something, Hermione found that she could move her feet again. She quickly turned her back on Draco and walked right out of the store. When she was halfway down the street, she could hear Draco calling after her. She stopped and then sighed, turning around and facing him. "What Malfoy?"

"Where are you going?" He asked once he caught up with her, breathing heavily to catch her breath.

"Home." Hermione said, turning back around and walking away again. She knew he was following her, but that didn't stop her from picking up the pace.

"Home as in Pansy's place?"

"No." Hermione snapped. "Home as in Australia. I'm going to go home and when I get there I'll just tell Pansy that there has been some mistake and that I cannot possibly run her shop for the next two weeks.

"But… I need your help running this place." Draco said, pointing to the shop that they were quickly walking away from. "I mean… look at me. Does it look like I can run a clothing store?"

Hermione laughed. "No, but it sure as Hell looks like you can afford to pay somebody else to work for you for those two weeks."

"Why would I do that when I can just have _you_ help me run it?"

"Because _I_ won't be here to help you run it."

"Why?"

Hermione suddenly stopped and turned to face Draco. She looked at him like he was retarded and he just smirked back. "Are you stupid… or just deaf?" She asked. "I just told you that I'm going home. Do I have to spell it out for you, Malfoy?"

"I meant why are you going home?"

"Isn't it obvious?" Hermione asked, crossing her arms over her chest. "I would rather face Bellatrix Lestrange again then spend two whole weeks with _you_."

"Ouch Granger." Draco said putting on a mock hurt face and placing his right hand over his heart. "That hurt."

"Good." Hermione snapped. "I'm going home." She turned and started walking away again. "I'm not spending two weeks with you, and that's final."

"That's the same thing I said." Draco said under his breath as he watched Hermione walk away.

"What did you say?" Hermione asked, turning back around and facing Draco. She had only heart him murmur something under his breath, and knowing Draco Malfoy, it was probably something vulgar or something that went against her, and she was tired of it.

Draco smirked back at her.

He had to admit, Pansy was right. The war really had changed Granger and she looked like a completely different person. She had caught him off guard when she walked into the shop and Draco found himself suddenly physically attracted to Hermione. Who wouldn't find her attractive in the clothes she was wearing? Draco would have to be crazy to just let her walk out on him like that. Sure, she was a muggleborn, one of Potter's best friends, and one of the people he grew up hating, but that made it all that much more better. It would be a great accomplishment to say he had made it with Granger. He wasn't about to let the opportunity slip right through his fingers.

As he looked back at her, a plan suddenly came to mind. Once a Slytherin… always a Slytherin. "I said that you were a chicken."

Hermione looked back at him, her mouth open slightly. "I'm a what?" She asked, now approaching him slowly.

"A chicken." Draco said with a smirk as he crossed his arms over his chest and watched Hermione walk towards him.

"I beg your pardon, but I am not a chicken. I am a Gryffindor." She said proudly.

"I don't know…." Draco shook his head. "Right now you're acting like a Hufflepuff. A scared and shy Hufflepuff."

"I'm not scared and I'm not shy. I'm brave… just like a Gryffindor should be."

"If you were brave you wouldn't be running away like a scared little Hufflepuff just because you have to spend two weeks with me."

"I'm not scared of spending two weeks with you, Malfoy." Hermione snapped.

"Then prove it." Draco said with a smirk, watching as Hermione had an internal battle. "If you're a great Gryffindor like you say you are… then stay here and help me run the shop for two weeks." Hermione opened her mouth to argue back, but Draco cut her off. "Or go back home. Go run back off to Australia where you can be as far from me as possible… and only prove that the sorting hat should have placed you in Hufflepuff instead."

"If you want proof that I should be in Gryffindor then-"

"Then I'll be waiting for you to come help me finish finalizing some paper work for the new outfits Pansy put out before she left." Draco smirked as he turned and started walking back to the shop. "See you inside, Granger."

Hermione stood still, glaring into the back of his head as he walked back into Pansy's shop and closed the door. She knew she was a Gryffindor and not a Hufflepuff, and she knew that he knew that as well. But she had beat him in _everything_ so far and _not_ going back inside and just dealing with him would feel like she would be giving up and admitting to defeat. There was no way in Hell that she was going to admit defeat to Draco Malfoy.

She was a Gryffindor. She could deal with Malfoy for two weeks… right?

She sighed and prayed that she actually could, because at that moment, her feet took step after step and she slowly walked back into _The Purple Pansy_.

* * *

_Exciting chapter! I hope you guys liked it and it was what you expected... but its far from over._

_Sorry about the wait as well. i wanted to get caught up on all my other stories and i wanted this chapter to be perfect, not rushed and crappy. So i hope it was worth the wait!_

_Thanks to those who reviewed last chapter:  
_Avanell_: Oh... yes it is ;)  
_dracomalfoyswifey_: omg i love toms music to! hes so amazing and an amazing guitarist! and your review made me smile lol. i'm happy you're enjoying the story that much.  
_s-ia0803_: you're good a english for being french... let me just say that. and just to answer your questions that i didn't answer in the story: yes i did get the idea from the movies 'the holiday' and about her old friends... well you'll just have to wait and see lol. i hope you liked this chapter and i'm happy that my story caught you interest and keeps a hold of it!  
_ring of rubies_: lol yes. there was a very big DUN DUN DUN at the end of that chapter. and yes i can assure you that i have no magic at the tips of my fingers. if i did i wouldn't be a muggle and i would use everything in my power to get to hogwarts and make draco my best friend lol. sadly... he's not :( so i can assure you its just a coincidence after all :)  
_soccercrazyfreak_: great! i hope this one was even better!  
_amorreal_: i'm happy you like it!  
_codeinepink_: thanks for the heads up on my mistake. let me know if you see anymore lol. i'm beta-less with this story so i have nobody but myself to catch my mistakes.  
_mjmusiclover_: thanks! i usually dont make Pansy nice... but i think i like her in this story better then any of my others. i'm happy you're enjoying it.  
_dakato izumi_: lol who isn't waiting for more Draco? and i'm happy you like my take on 'the holiday'._

_Remember to review guys! I'll try to upload the next chapter within a week! _


	7. Going Smoothly

_Last Chapter: Hermione stood still, glaring into the back of his head as he walked back into Pansy's shop and closed the door. She knew she was a Gryffindor and not a Hufflepuff, and she knew that he knew that as well. But she had beat him in everything so far and not going back inside and just dealing with him would feel like she would be giving up and admitting to defeat. There was no way in Hell that she was going to admit defeat to Draco Malfoy._

_She was a Gryffindor. She could deal with Malfoy for two weeks… right?_

_She sighed and prayed that she actually could, because at that moment, her feet took step after step and she slowly walked back into The Purple Pansy._

* * *

Seven

April 11th  
Day 4

She pushed the door open and stepped inside the shop with her arms crossed over her chest. She walked over towards the front desk and noticed that Draco was standing in the same spot as before, still bent over and filling out more paper work. She stopped about ten feet from the desk and just stared at him. He quickly looked up at her, then turned back to what he was doing, a smirk now present on his face.

"What the hell are you smirking at Malfoy?" Hermione snapped.

Draco looked up and immediately forced the smirk off his face. "I'm not smirking, Granger."

Hermione rolled her eyes and approached the desk. "Well you were." When she reached the desk, she looked down to see the papers that Draco was signing and snatched them up to get a better look. "What is this you're looking at anyway?" As she just started to read it, Draco snatched it right out of her hands. "Hey!"

"It's none of your business that's what it is." He smirked at her as he placed the paper back on the table and reached for the quill.

Just as Draco dipped the quill into the ink, Hermione snatched the paper back again. "Actually, _Malfoy_, it is my business. Pansy asked me to help run her store and I believe that gives me the rights to see what you're doing."

"Do you?" Draco asked.

"Yes, as I matter of fact-"

Draco, fast as lightning, snatched the paper right out of her hands. "Well I don't. And seeing as Pansy's is gone and I'm the assistant manager, I think that gives me the rights to make all the decisions around here."

"Yes, that's good for you Malfoy, but…," Hermione snatched the paper back from Draco just as fast. "Seeing as I'm taking over Pansy's position, I think that gives me a higher authority then you do."

Hermione didn't even have the paper in her hands for ten seconds before Draco snatched it back. "Give me a break Granger." Draco said with a laugh. "I can settle this the easy way." Hermione went to reach for the paper again, but Draco put it behind his back and held his other hand out to stop Hermione from moving to reach it. "I gave Pansy the money to buy this shop, so I'm technically the shop owner. You may have Pansy's job right now, but I'm her boss and that also makes me your boss. Therefore, I'll take care of the paper work."

Hermione scoffed and stomped her foot dramatically, only causing Draco's smirk to grow. "Well… what the hell Malfoy!" Draco quickly rounded the counter and grabbed Hermione's upper arm, pulling her towards the back of the store as she fought to get away from his grip. "Get your slimy hands off me, Malfoy!"

"Will you be quiet?" Draco snapped, his teeth clenched. "We have customers in the store and some of them have brought their children with them. I don't think they appreciate the language you are choosing to use."

They glared at each other for a few seconds, Draco's hand still clasped around Hermione's upper arm. "Get –your –hand- off –me -now." Hermione said through her teeth. Draco finally released his grip on her. "If you didn't want my help then why did you even bother asking me to come and help you?"

"I didn't say I didn't want your help, Granger." Draco said seriously. "Let's face it, I might be rich and own plenty of in style, popular, expensive clothing but…" Hermione rolled her eyes. "I'm no woman."

"Are you sure about that?" Hermione asked under his breath. Draco pretended like he didn't hear her.

"I can take care of the paper work, but the store needs a woman touch. I need you to be out there helping everybody, making sure they know what they're buying, and making sure they'll look good in everything they're purchasing." Hermione looked at Draco dumbfounded. "What?" He asked, not understanding the look Hermione was giving him.

"I'm a… newspaper reporter." She said. "I don't know anything about clothing!"

"You're a woman."

"So…?"

"It's built into your blood just like Quidditch is built into a man's."

"Wow, Malfoy…." Hermione shook her head. "Can you get any more stereotypical?"

"Actually-"

"That was a rhetorical question!" Hermione snapped. "And just because I'm a woman doesn't mean I automatically know things about clothing! I'm no fashion diva like Pansy. You can't just expect me to take on her role!"

"Then why did you agree to switch places with her if you couldn't take on her role?" Hermione opened her mouth to speak, but Draco kept going. "And I thought you were Hermione Granger? War hero, Gryffindor, goody goody two shoes, top of the class in… everything, and England's brightest witch?"

"I am-"

"The only thing you weren't good at was Quidditch."

Draco stared at her, waiting for her response. "What's your point?" She suddenly asked.

"You're all these 'great' things yet you're going to stand there and tell me that you can't run a clothing shop just because you don't know anything about clothing?"

"Well…, that's different!"

Draco laughed. "When you wake up in the morning, what do put on the upper half of your body?" Hermione shook her head at Draco, giving him a 'you have got to be kidding me' look. "Answer the question, Granger."

"A shirt, Malfoy. Are you being serious right now?"

"What do you put on the lower half of your body?"

"Pants or a skirt or something. But what does-"

"Then you know everything you need to know to run a clothing store."

"But-"

"Come on. I'll give you a tour of the store." And with that, Draco disappeared behind a rack of clothing, leaving Hermione to run after him to catch up.

"I already got a tour of the store before Pansy left." Hermione said as she followed Draco back towards the front of the store. "I don't need another."

Draco laughed. "You got a Pansy tour, not a Draco tour." He said over his shoulder.

Hermione laughed and rolled her eyes. "I would rather get a tour from her then from you any day."

Draco suddenly turned his head to look at Hermione and smirked. "Tell me Granger, have you finished writing your article about the shop yet."

"Well… yeah." Hermione said, confused on what this had to do with getting a tour. "I have it written I just have to double check my work and then send it into my boss."

"You haven't changed a bit." He said in a whisper so Hermione couldn't hear him.

"What?"

"Nothing." He said quickly, stopping when they reached the front desk and turning to face Hermione. "Now, Pansy gave you a tour of the store already, but the difference is that she gave you the tourist tour."

"The tourist tour?" Hermione asked with a smile, trying not to laugh.

"Yes." Draco said seriously. "She gave you a tour and told you everything you would need to know to write a positive article about our store so our rating and our business would go up. I'm going to be showing you the employee tour; everything she did and _didn't_ show you." Draco smirked at her. "And since you already finished your article, I don't have to worry about you putting anything negative in it."

Hermione rolled her eyes and exhaled a deep breath. "Whatever. Can we just get on with this please."

Draco smirked and then led her towards the back of the store where he started his tour. He led Hermione around the store, showing and telling her everything she needed to know. Hermione nodded and asked every question she needed to ask, then after the tour was finished, Draco turned to Hermione with a smirk. "I hope you can handle this Granger." He handed her a name tag as he spoke.

She snatched the name tag and glared back at Draco. "I can handle anything, Malfoy." She retorted back with a roll of her eyes. She glanced down at her name tag. It was the shape of a purple pansy and her name was written across the center in teal. She put it on and then started walking the store, straightening it up and helping anybody who needed to be helped.

After what felt like hours, she checked her watched to see that it was almost one in the afternoon. Just as she was thinking that she should probably go and get something to eat, her stomach growled. She ran her hand over her stomach before deciding that she had done enough for today and would go and inform Draco that she was leaving.

She made her way up the spiral staircase and towards the backroom. When she arrived at the office, the door was closed. Hermione gave it a quick knock and, without waiting for an answer, opened it and walked inside. Malfoy was sitting at the desk, quill in his hand a letter in front of him. He gave Hermione a smirk as he looked up at her, then turned back to what he was doing. "Hello Granger."

"I'm leaving for the day, Malfoy. I just wanted to let you know."

"Leaving?" He asked, suddenly looking up and stopping what he was doing. "What do you mean 'leaving'?"

Hermione paused before responding. "How can I possibly make this clearer?" She asked confused. "I'm leaving the store. As in I'm going to walk out the front door and I'll-"

"I know what the hell leaving means, Granger." Draco snapped. "I meant why. Why are you leaving?"

"Pansy told me I only-"

"Pansy smansy." Draco said with a wave of his hand. "I still need your help."

Hermione groaned. "With what? What the hell could you possibly want my help with now?"

"You don't understand retail, do you Granger?" Draco asked, dropping the quill and crossing his arms over his chest. Hermione just stared at him, waiting for him to continue. "After five this place will be jam packed. Everybody will get off work and they're all going to come and shop. I'm going to need your help until about seven."

"_Seven_?" Hermione asked, looking at Draco like he was crazy. "You want me to stay here until seven?"

"Yes…."

"Pansy told me I only had to come for a couple hours a day, Malfoy. I've been here since eleven. You do the math and tell me how many hours that is."

"Eight hours, Granger." Draco said with a smirk.

"Exactly. Eight." Hermione held up eight fingers and Draco just rolled his eyes at her. "A couple would be like two or three, maybe four but that's pushing it. But eight…?"

"Well if you're too scared of some extra labor…."

"Oh, no you don't!" Hermione said pointing her finger at him. "I refuse to let you manipulate and trick me into staying here longer."

Draco exhaled a deep breath and stood up, suddenly serious. "Okay, Granger. You're right. I'm sorry." Hermione lowered her finger slowly and stared back at him, complete shock hitting her. "I'm not going to manipulate you anymore, but can you just please stay for tonight? I have so much more paper work to do and I'll need you out there helping Amanda."

Hermione groaned and looked up at Malfoy. He had a look of complete seriousness on his face and for the first time ever, he was talking nicely to her. Hermione told herself it was probably just a trap to get her to say longer, but the thing was that he really did look desperate. Pansy had left him all by himself to run this store, and she agreed to help. It would be wrong to back out and cruel as well. And besides, maybe if she was nice to Draco now, he would continue to be nice to her.

She sighed. "Alright." Draco's eyes brightened and he gave her a small smile.

"Excellent." He said, sitting back down and grabbing the quill.

"But I'm going to get lunch."

Draco stopped what he was doing and looked back up at Hermione as she was getting ready to turn and walk out of the office. "You know Granger, lunch sounds good."

Hermione turned around slowly to see that Draco was standing up again and straightening up the desk quickly. "What are you doing?" She asked as she watched him.

"Cleaning the desk quickly before I join you for lunch." Draco said like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

Hermione let out a little laugh before shaking her head. "I said _I_ was going to get lunch, Malfoy. Not _us_. Just _me_."

Draco had finished straightening up the desk and quickly put her robe over his shirt before turning to Hermione. "I know. And I said I was going to join you. Is that a problem?"

"Well… yes." Hermione answered honestly. "I mean, I already have to spend eight hours with you. I would at least like an hour to get away from you."

"Ouch." Draco shook his head and buttoned up his cloak. "You know, that just gives us all the more reason to have lunch together."

"I don't know what you're talking about." And with that, Hermione turned on the spot and headed back downstairs.

Draco, however, was on her tail. "We have to spend the next nine days together, right?" Hermione rolled her eyes and kept walking. She made her way down the stairs and grabbed her purse from behind the desk and continued to walk towards the door. "Do you really want those nine days to be this miserable, Granger?"

"If I knew they would have been this miserable, I never would have agreed to them." Hermione said as she pushed the front door open and walked out into the streets of Diagon Alley.

"But you did." Draco said, walking quickly so he was now walking side by side to Hermione.

Hermione suddenly stopped and turned to look at Draco. "So what?"

"Come on, Granger." Draco said kindly. "I don't want these nine days to be completely miserable and have us at each other's throats, and I don't think you want to either." Hermione bit her lip and turned her head away from Draco. "Just give me a chance to show you that me and you can get along if we try." Hermione looked back at Draco and exhaled a deep breath. "I'm not that same little boy I was back in Hogwarts. I promise you I changed."

Hermione threw her head back and with a groan, continued on walking. As she did, she yelled back to Malfoy. "If you want to come you better hurry, because I'm not going to wait for you." She continued walking and listened as he started walking quickly and was soon right at her side again as they made their way towards The Leaky Cauldron.

Hermione couldn't believe herself for giving in so easily and hoped that she knew what she was getting herself into.

Draco, on the other hand, couldn't be happier. He knew exactly what he was doing, and so far… everything was going smoothly.

* * *

_Sorry for the long wait and the shorter chapter. Writers block has been a pain the butt lately and i've been busy getting my halloween costume ready (going to be Pansy just in case you wanted to know :] ). I hope it was worth the wait though and you all enjoyed it!_

_Thanks to those who reviewed last chapter:  
_dracomalfoyswifey_: hes a very manipulative person and i love it lol. i'm happy you're enjoying all of them!  
_avidreader16_: i'm happy you're enjoying the story that much. and to answer you question... yes. i did get the idea for this story from the holiday.  
_dezagonj_: sorry for the long wait :(  
_zabinilover_: i loved that part as well. i was hoping it would give somebody a good laugh and i'm happy that it did.  
_LynZann_: when is Draco not in it for the lay lol  
_gigi_: lol he really is a slytherin and he always will be :)  
_soccercrazyfreak_: thanks!  
_Giloen_: your review had me laughing. i'm happy you like my story that much and i must agree with you about Tom. He is to sexy for his own good!  
_mjmusiclover_: i'm sooooo happy you liked it!  
_90sgirl_: thanks. i hope it was still nice and easy going for your liking :)  
: stay addicted ;)  
_kazfeist_: lol he knows how to get to her, doesn't he?  
_ring of rubies_: loved your review and loved your suggestions for hermione and how to deal with draco. they're def. a comforting thought, even if they might be illegal. and im not to sure if im goign to show pansy or not. i'm thinking about it and i might. just let me know if you really want to see it and i'll do one for you :)  
_DaOnLeeSam_: lol yes he does!_

_I was shocked by the amount of reviews guys and i'm so happy that so many people are enjoying this! It would be just awesome to break the record and get 15 reviews! _

_Please review! The soon you review the sooner i'm going to update!_


	8. Sharing Stories

_Last Chapter: Hermione threw her head back and with a groan, continued on walking. As she did, she yelled back to Malfoy. "If you want to come you better hurry, because I'm not going to wait for you." She continued walking and listened as he started walking quickly and was soon right at her side again as they made their way towards The Leaky Cauldron._

_Hermione couldn't believe herself for giving in so easily and hoped that she knew what she was getting herself into._

_Draco, on the other hand, couldn't be happier. He knew exactly what he was doing, and so far… everything was going smoothly._

* * *

Eight

April 11th  
Day 4

"Then there was that time, back in third year, when I was about to dive for the snitch and…-"

Hermione sat across from Draco as they ate lunch at The Leaky Cauldron. Her right elbow sat on the edge of the table with her chin propped up on her hand. Her left arm laid across the table, her index finger taping on the wood surface as she listened to Draco talk. Because that was all he had been doing for the past twenty minutes. He hadn't stopped talking, and he talked about _absolutely_ nothing. He talked about things that had happened to him in Hogwarts and what he had been doing since he started working at the Ministry. All in all, it was things that Hermione could really care less about. And he only stopped when Hermione guessed his mouth was too dry from talking, and he had to take a drink of his butterbeer.

She sighed to herself as he started talking about a potion he made once in Potions that got him twenty points for his house. With her head still propped up on her arm, she allowed her eyes to wander the room. She watched as everybody else talked with smiles on their faces and as a group of men in black cloaks entered the room and took a seat by the window. She sighed again and was relieved when their waitress came over with their lunch and placed it on the table.

Hermione was delighted to see that Draco had now stopped talking to eat his roast chicken, and she happily starting digging into her own Sheperd's pie. She pocked a potato with her fork and was just bringing it to her mouth, when Draco suddenly started talking again. "Working at the Ministry has diffidently been…-." Draco paused when he noticed Hermione roll her eyes and place her fork down on the table. "Something wrong, Granger?" He asked, taking a forkful of his chicken.

"Look, Malfoy, no offense, but… when did you become so bloody annoying?" Hermione found herself snapping at him even though she didn't really mean it. She just couldn't take it anymore. It was like he was purposely trying to annoy her, for whatever reason, and he was succeeding. She sighed at the sudden hurt look on Draco's face. "I'm sorry, but I don't really care about how many points Snape gave you during fourth year for making a potion that even sixth years were having trouble with. Everybody knows he favored you and even if you did it wrong, he would have praised you for it."

Draco smirked. "Jealous Granger?"

Hermione frowned at Draco before taking another bit of her pie. "No." She swallowed before continuing. "Snape favored you Slytherins. That's the _only_ reason you all got so ahead of us in that class. You all sucked at everything else."

Draco snorted. "Please, Granger."

"Okay, fine, then why did we beat you in everything else?"

"Who? The Gryffindors?" Draco asked with another laugh.

"No, the Hufflepuffs." She said sarcastically, rolling her eyes. "Of course the Gryffindors!"

Draco just laughed before calmly saying: "You didn't beat us in everything."

Hermione scoffed before laughing slightly. "Yes we did. Everything except Potions."

"And Quidditch." Draco pointed at, pointing at her with his fork.

Hermione just rolled her eyes. "That has got nothing to do with academics."

"You never said it had to do with academics." Draco said with a smirk.

"Fine, if we're not talking about academics then I have some more." Draco took another bite of his chicken before sitting back in his chair, arms crossed, and looking at Hermione with a smirk. "How about that time in third year when you and some of your Slytherin 'minions' decided to dress up as deatheaters and walk onto the Quidditch field to try and scare Harry so he wouldn't catch the snitch… yet he caught it anyway." Hermione smiled triumphantly as Draco's smirk fell.

He suddenly got serious and sat forward again. "Okay. How about the time when Weasley was going to try and curse me, but instead his spell backfired and he ended up puking up slugs for the next month." Draco laughed after he finished talking.

"He didn't puke them up for the next month!" Hermione said loudly, defending her best friend. "And you deserved to get cursed."

Draco just laughed. "Too bad I wasn't the one to get cursed."

Hermione's nostrils flared and she was now on the edge of her seat. "You know what you did deserve Malfoy?"

Draco laughed again and looked around the room, listening but not watching Hermione as she spoke. He figured he had won… but he was so wrong. "What, Granger? What did I deserve?"

"That time when I slapped you across the face." Hermione said it quietly, but loud enough so Draco could hear it. He slowly turned his head, his smirk now gone, and stared at Hermione. Hermione's lips curved triumphantly as she watched Draco glaring back at her.

"Well that bloody hippogriff deserved to die." He said through his teeth.

"Too bad he didn't die." Hermione snapped. "Buckbeak is still out there, somewhere, alive and happy, no thanks to you."

Draco turned so he was looking Hermione square in the face, then crossed his hands on top of the table. Hermione gave him a sweet, fake smile, showing him her teeth as he glared back. He looked at her teeth for a couple seconds, before his glare turned to a smirk, causing Hermione to shut her mouth. "Aren't you glad Pomfrey could shrink your teeth back to their normal size after I cursed them in fourth year?"

"Aren't you glad that her and Snape could fix you up after Harry cursed you with Sectumsempra in sixth year?" Draco's smirk faded and he opened his mouth to argue, but stayed quiet instead. They both glared at each other and Hermione could tell that they were no longer joking around with each other. There little play argument had suddenly turned very serious.

"How about first year, Granger?"

"What about it?"

"When you, Weasley, and Scarface fell right into my booby trap to get you all in trouble. I told you all to meet me in the trophy room at midnight for a duel, and you all actually bought it." He snickered at the memory. "Like the stupid little Gryffindorks you are."

"I didn't go with them on purpose." Hermione said defensively. "I was trying to stop them because I _knew_ it was a trap, but ended up getting locked outside the common room. It was not my fault."

Draco just laughed. "Yeah right, likely story."

Hermione just scoffed and threw her back against the chair. "You think you're so bloody perfect." She said under her breath, but Draco had heart her.

"I am bloody perfect, thank you very much, Granger."

Hermione just let out a sarcastic laugh. "Please, Malfoy. You wouldn't know perfect if it smacked you right in-between the nose."

"You're just jealous because I am in, in fact,… perfect." Draco said with a smirk. He took a bit of his chicken and pretended to be looking around the room, watching Hermione in his peripheral vision the entire time. He watched as her blood boiled from frustration and as she slowly started to lose all the restraint she had.

She clenched her fist together and before Hermione could stop herself… the words just left her. "If you're so bloody perfect how come you couldn't kill Dumbledore up in the Astronomy Tower?" Draco suddenly turned and looked at Hermione. "If you're so perfect then how come Snape had to do it and not you!"

Hermione had yelled it all louder then she planned to. Almost all of The Leaky Cauldron had gone silent and all eyes were on them. Draco stared at Hermione for a couple of seconds, a look of hurt, embarrassment, and shock written on his face. He closed his eyes for a couple seconds, then looked down at the table, licking his lips nervously. Hermione immediately felt bad for what she had said, and just as she was about to apologize, Draco stood up. He pushed the seat back and reached into his cloak, pulling out a couple of sickles to pay for his meal. He placed them on the table, and then without another word, he walked out of The Leaky Cauldron.

Hermione closed her eyes and sighed to herself. She placed her head in her hands and licked her lips. "Don't feel bad. He deserved every word. Don't feel bad." She continued to repeat this to herself in a low whisper, but she couldn't keep it up for long. She looked up just in time to see Draco walking quickly down the street and she made up her mind.

She quickly stood up from her seat, placed down the money to pay for her meal, then sprinted after Draco. She found him just as he was about to turn the corner and quickly yelled out his name. "Malfoy! Malfoy, WAIT!"

He stopped, and with his back still turned to her, started talking. "What , Granger?"

Hermione, who was now standing directly behind him, gulped quickly before speaking. The words would kill her to say, but she needed to say them. "I'm sorry. That was really uncalled for."

He turned around and looked at her. "Do you think so?" He asked sarcastically. Hermione just nodded, not knowing what to say to him. "Nobody understands, so I don't except you to either." He turned around again and started walking, but Hermione wasn't done yet. She knew he hadn't forgiven her and, for some strange reason, it would kill her forever if he didn't.

"Malfoy, wait." He didn't stop, so Hermione chased after him. "Malfoy, please wait and talk to me." When he still continued to ignore her, Hermione tried the last thing she could think of. "Draco…." He stopped suddenly and turned to face her, surprise written all over his face. "Please forgive me."

"You can't bring up a person worst memory and then just except them to forgive you when you say sorry. It doesn't work like that." He turned around again and slowly started to walk away.

Hermione sighed and let out a little groan. "I'll… I'll make it up to you." Draco stopped again and turned to face her, a small smirk present on his face. "What can I do to make it up to you?" She asked slowly, afraid of the answer.

Draco thought for a moment and then finally smirked his famous Malfoy smirk. "Come on a date with me tonight. We can go after we get done work at the shop."

Hermione stared at him, wide eyed and open mouthed. "Are you crazy?" She asked. Draco said nothing, just crossed his arms and shook his head 'no'. Hermione was speechless. Why in the name of Merlin would Draco Malfoy want to go on a date with her, Hermione Granger? Didn't he hate her? They were enemies, right? They hated each other for 7 years now, what suddenly changed? "Why?"

"Because you want to make it up to me and that's all I can think of." It was a lie, and Hermione knew it, but did she really have a choice? If she wanted Draco to forgive her for what she said, she would have to go on a date with him. She knew that going on a date with him would be sufficient to what she said to him.

"Alright." She said with a sigh. "But just one date, Malfoy."

Draco smirked. "Great. Now come on, we have to get back to work." He turned back around and started walking back towards Pansy's shop like nothing had ever happened.

Hermione regretted her decision that second.

Draco, however, couldn't stop smirking. His plan had worked.

Part one was a success.

* * *

Draco smiled to himself as he watched Hermione standing at the front desk in Pansy's shop. She kept looking at the time, then she would frown at it, before turning back to what she was previously doing. He knew she was counting down the time she had left until she had to go on the date with him, and he couldn't help but find the way she was dreading it entertaining.

Lunch had turned out exactly like he had planned it to; it couldn't have gone any better. He wanted to annoy her to the point of where she would snap at him. He could then pretend to be hurt by what she said and not forgive her until she agreed to go on a date with him. She fell right into his little trap, and Draco couldn't be happier with himself. He was a brilliant actor after all.

He checked his watch at ten of seven, and then turned to Amanda with a smile. "Can you handle everything else until closing?" He asked her. He knew she would be able to. The shop had died down excessively and she wouldn't have any problem handling the very few customers that would come in with the hour left of the stores business hours.

"Of course, Mr. Malfoy." She said smiling back.

"Great. I'll be heading out then until tomorrow and Ms. Granger will be going with me." He straightened up his cloak and then, smiling once more at Amanda, turned and made his way over to where Hermione was standing. He smirked at her as he approached her, and as soon as she noticed him, her facial expression fell. He could tell that she was inwardly kicking herself for allowing herself to get into this situation. She turned to him and faked a smile, only causing Draco's smirk to grow even more. "Ready?" He asked her.

She sighed and nodded her head. "Please promise me we're not going somewhere crazy." Draco said nothing, holding his arm out for Hermione to take. She ignored his friendly gesture and started heading straight for the door. Draco, slightly frustrated by her lack of manners, followed her quickly out the door and took the lead, leading her off towards one of the popular streets in Diagon Alley. "You didn't answer me." Hermione pointed out after a couple minutes of walking. "I asked if we were going somewhere crazy or not?"

"No you didn't." Draco said simply. "You said, and I quote 'please promise me we're not going somewhere crazy.'. Last time I checked, that wasn't a question."

Hermione rolled her eyes. "It was a question in sentence form and you know it, Malfoy." Draco just nodded his head and continued walking. Hermione let out a groan. "Will you answer me please?"

Draco laughed. "What's the question?"

"Are we going somewhere crazy?" Draco opened his mouth to ask another question, but Hermione already saw it coming. "No fancy, expensive restaurants right?"

"It's not fancy." Draco said quickly, getting a nod from Hermione. Draco just smirked when she said no more on the subject. It was true that he wasn't taking her to a fancy restaurant, at least not yet, but he never said it wasn't a cheap restaurant. He was a Malfoy, and strictly speaking, Malfoy's don't do anything cheap. He wasn't going to take her to a fancy restaurant because they both weren't dressed well enough to get into the restaurants he went to. But there were still plenty of nice restaurants out there that were good enough for a Malfoy to get into without looking bad in the pureblood society while still dressing in his casual clothes. "This way, Granger." Draco said, taking a turn down one of the streets that led right to the restaurant they were going to.

Draco could see it from where they were standing. It was a beautiful, Italian restaurant, designed to make it look like you were sitting in a restaurant in Italy. It was also one of Draco's favorite places to eat. He lightly grabbed Hermione's hand to pull her in the direction of the restaurant, but she quickly pulled away. Draco turned to her and frowned. "I wasn't trying to hold your hand, Granger."

"Then why did you grab it?" She asked. They were both now standing a mere ten feet from the entrance to the restaurant. They faced each other and Hermione quickly put her hands behind her back and out of Draco's reach.

He sighed. "I just wanted to guide you into the restaurant." He lifted his hand and pointed at the door. Hermione quickly tore her eyes from Draco and glanced up at the beautiful building before her.

"We're eating in there?" She asked, still looking up at it.

"Yes. I made reservations right after we got back from lunch."

Hermione's eyes shot to Draco. It was then that the thought that Draco might have planned all this out crossed her mind, but she quickly blew it off. Draco might be smart, but he wasn't smart enough to outplay her… was he? "Why would you make reservations?"

Draco just laughed like this was the dumbest question he ever heard. "Because you _need_ to make reservations for this place. Usually you have to make them about a week in advance to even get a seat for _two_, but I gave them my name and they told me it wasn't a problem."

"You told me we weren't going somewhere expensive and fancy." Hermione said, now glaring at him.

"Wrong." He said with a smirk. "All I said was that it wasn't fancy."

"This looks pretty fancy to me." Hermione said, pointing at the restaurant.

"It's not. It's casual."

"Well… it looks expensive!" Hermione was quickly running out of excuses.

"That's because it is." Draco said, reaching behind Hermione and grabbing her hand. She quickly tried to pull it away, but Draco had a death grip on her. "Stop squirming Granger. You promised you would go on a date with me and now you are. Who cares if it's expensive?"

"I-do!" Hermione said, still fighting to get away.

Draco just rolled his eyes and continued to pull her in. He was stronger than she was, and no matter how much she pulled, she was never going to get away.

That thought was probably what caused Hermione to stop pulling after Draco forced her inside, because she suddenly stopped, or it could have been the fact that she got her first glimpse of the restaurants beauty. Draco turned to her to see that she was looking around the room in awe. He smirked and then turned to the hostess and smiled at her. "Last name's Malfoy. Table for two."

The hostess smiled at Draco and then grabbed two menus before waving her hand for Draco to follow her. "We have the best table in the house reserved for you Mr. Malfoy." She guided them over to their table and handed them their menu's when they were seated. "Enjoy your meal." She said before walking away and leaving Draco and Hermione alone.

Hermione was still looking around the room in awe, and Draco couldn't help but laugh. "Beautiful isn't it?"

Hermione, who had heard his laugh, turned and finally made eye contact with him. When she saw Draco's smirk, she glared at him suddenly. "You find this amusing, don't you Malfoy?"

He shook his head quickly. "I find it nice. The fact that two people who hated each other for about seven years can sit down and have a nice dinner together is a good feeling."

"Hate." Hermione said quickly. Draco raised an eyebrow at her, not understanding what she was talking about, causing Hermione to roll her eyes. "You said 'hated each other' when you should have said hate each other." Draco just smirked at her. "Last time I checked we still hated each other."

Draco just shook his head slightly before speaking in a small whisper. "And I thought I would be the one to always hold the grudge against you." Hermione opened her mouth to speak but was interrupted as their waiter came to the table. Draco quickly ordered a bottle of his favorite red wine and two house salads for him and Hermione. Hermione went to argue, but Draco cut her off by saying that was all they needed for now.

"You know, I can talk." Hermione snapped, picking her menu up and flipping through the pages.

"Congratulations." Draco said with a smile, picking up his menu and ignoring the glare Hermione was sending his way. The waiter came back within a couple minutes, carrying both their salads and their wine, which he poured for them, then got their dinner order. Draco order pasta fazool while Hermione ordered some lasagna. The waiter nodded and then went on his way to put their order in.

Hermione, who suddenly felt starving from not eating much of her lunch, starting eating her salad straight away. Draco ate as well, only he took his time and watched Hermione with a smirk. One thing was sure, she had an appetite. "Did you learn some of your eating techniques from Weasley when we were back in Hogwarts?" Hermione stopped with a fork hallway to her mouth and glared at a smirking Draco.

"I'm hungry… okay?" She said, taking a forkful of salad. "It's because of you I didn't eat my lunch."

Draco laughed. "How is that my fault?"

"Because you had to start that stupid argument." She pointed out, picking up her wine and bringing it to her lips to take a sip.

"I believe you started it." Draco said, taking a sip of his own wine.

Hermione just rolled her eyes. "Whatever Malfoy. I don't want to argue about an argument. That's just stupid."

Draco just shrugged his shoulders and continued eating his salad. They sat in silence until their dinner came, when Draco finally decided that he was getting fed up with the silence and if he ever wanted another chance with Granger, he should keep talking. "So, why Australia?"

Hermione swallowed what was in her mouth before speaking. "I'm sorry?"

"Since you're a reporter for an Australian paper, I assume that you live in Australia. So, why Australia? I'm guessing you didn't just wake up one morning and decide to move almost across the world, leaving your friends and everything you knew behind."

Hermione let out a little laugh. "No, it wasn't a split second decision. I…" She sighed before continuing. "I went to go and find my parents."

"What were you parents doing in Australia?" Draco asked, suddenly really interested.

"Before Harry, Ron and I went out on our horcrux hunt, I wanted to keep my parents safe from Voldemort and the Deatheaters." Draco suddenly felt a pang of guilt, but it quickly disappeared. "So I modified their memories. They became Wendell and Monica Wilkins who's life ambitions were to move to Australia and they…," She paused for a second, forcing the words to leave her mouth. "they completely forgot they ever had a daughter."

"Wow." Draco said quietly.

"Yeah." Hermione said with a sigh, nodding and lowering her head.

"That must have been hard."

Hermione nodded, her head still low towards her plate. "You have no idea."

Draco quickly decided to change the subject away from the war. They talked about what they had been doing after they graduated from Hogwarts and what they had accomplished so far with their current jobs. They seemed to be getting along fairly well, still sending glares to each other with each sarcastic comment, but all in all… the date was as much of a success as it was going to get. Draco quickly paid for the meal, ignoring Hermione's requests to allow her to pay for her part, and they exited the restaurant and back out into the streets.

They walked down the streets of Diagon Alley in silence, both their minds on the war that had passed through their lives so roughly. Draco couldn't help but look at Hermione and see a girl who was hurt and on the inside, and he couldn't help but blame himself for that. She had been through so much to keep herself and the ones she loved safe in the war, even going to the extreme to change her parents memory so they didn't remember her at all. As Draco pondered this, something crossed him that he didn't quite understand. "So, Granger… you went to Australia to find your parents, right?" Hermione nodded. "Did you ever find them?"

"Yeah, I did."

"But you stayed in Australia, so much to the point that you had to get a job there. Did something happen?"

Hermione sighed and looked up the stars for a second, biting her lips together before answering. "I found them and told them who I was. They didn't believe me at all and right before they went to kick me out of their house, I performed the spell on them that would give them their memories back but… I didn't work. Something happened and I can't figure out what it is." She shook her head and bit her lip before continuing. "It's like my parents are dead, only I can see them everyday living their lives like everything was normal. They don't even know I exist." She said the last part as an afterthought, and Draco suddenly found the need to apologize.

"I'm sorry, Granger."

"No you're not." Hermione snapped, turning to look at him with small tears in her eyes. "You couldn't even possibly begin to understand how much this war has screwed up my life. You couldn't understand how much this war has screwed up all of our lives."

"Granger, I underst-"

"No you don't!" Hermione was finally yelling. She inhaled a deep breath to try and control herself, but it wasn't working. "The side I fought on, the side you fought against, suffered more then you could ever imagine. Ron lost a brother, Harry lost a godfather, and I lost my parents. And that is only a fraction of what we have all lost. There is a little boy out there who goes by the name of Teddy Lupin who not only lost his father during the war, but also lost his mother. And it's all because of you and you're stupid Deatheaters."

"Granger-"

"I don't want to hear it Malfoy." Hermione said sadly. "I don't expect you to understand what we went though. We all lived in fear of Voldemort every day. We were always hiding, fighting, and protecting each other. It was a like a nightmare that you just couldn't wake up from. It was awful and nothing that you have been though could ever compare to what I have been through."

Draco was silent for a couple seconds, watching Hermione as she walked with her head down low. He sighed and then shook his head, looking up at the stars now. "It's like I said earlier. Nobody understands."

Hermione raised her head and looked over at Draco. "What are you talking about?"

Draco stopped walking and turned to Hermione, causing her to do the same. "Everybody is always so busy worrying about the side that Potter fought on, about the side that won, that they don't even give a rat's ass to look and see what might have happened to the other side." Hermione opened her mouth to say something, but Draco kept going. He had months and months of frustration built up inside of him when it came to the war and now that he had the perfect opportunity to vent it, he wasn't going to continue to keep it bottled up. "I get it, I really do. I get the fact that you had to run in fear that he would be there when you turned you back, a wand pointing at your throat and an unforgivable curse about to be said. You feared every day that he would find you and kill you."

Hermione just watched Draco as he continued to talk. "But you just don't seem to understand that we had just as much or even more to fear then you all did." He paused, running a hand through his hair as he turned and folded his arms across his chest, thinking carefully before he spoke. "I never wanted it, Granger. I never wanted to be the person I became. It all sounded so great to me a couple years ago. Getting a job from Voldemort, a job that if I succeeded in doing, would make me Voldemort's right hand man. It sounded great." He smiled slightly at the memory, but it quickly faded. "But then I actually had to do it, and in doing it, I realized that that wasn't who I was. I wasn't a murderer and I couldn't kill Dumbledore. I couldn't kill anybody."

He turned suddenly and looked at Hermione, and for the first time, Hermione saw sadness in his eyes that she had never seen before. "But after that night in the Astronomy tower, I had to do just what I feared. I had to kill, and if I didn't… he would kill me." He licked his lips and lowered his head to the ground, shaking it. "You might have feared him having to find you, but at least you had that much of an escape. He already knew where we were, and if he wanted to, he could kill us without a second thought. You couldn't possibly begin to understand what it's like to fear him when he's standing next you every minute of every hour of every day. You couldn't possibly begin to understand what it's like to be on his side and still fear him."

"Malfoy…."

"Just forget it." Draco snapped lightly, turning and quickly walking away from Hermione.

Hermione bit her lips together and watched as he walked down the street with his head hanging down low. She sighed before making up her mind and chasing after him. When she was behind him, she reached her hand out and grabbed his tightly in hers. He quickly stopped walking and turned to look at Hermione. She smiled kindly at him and he just looked back at her.

They both stared into each other's eyes for a couple minutes until Hermione felt Draco tighten his grip on her hand and she smiled contently as he smiled back at her.

Something had happened between them at that very moment, and it was something that hadn't happened yet since the war was over. Two enemies, people who hated each other for years on end, had shared stories and their feelings towards the war. The only thing was, in the end… they both had a complete and total understanding for what the other person felt.

And for the first time in their lives, Draco and Hermione could stand next to each other without throwing a curse in the other ones direction.

For the first time in their lives, Draco and Hermione… were finally friends.

* * *

_Hello everybody! I hope you all enjoyed the chapter becuase i know i had fun writing this one. I also hope that you guys dont think im developing their friendship to fast. let me know because i really want some outsiders opinion about that :)_

_this is the longest chapter i have ever written in all of my fanfiction history so i hope it was worth the kinda long wait for it to get uploaded!_

_thanks to those who reviewed last chapter! i got the 15 i asked for! you guys are all amazing! can we maybe try for 20?! That would be sooo awesome and i promise to upload the next chapter super fast if i get them! thanks to:_

DaOnLeeSam_: lol yeah he does. im happy you're enjoying it  
__: thanks for that compliment! im so happy you're enjoying it and im happy you're going to be sticking by till the end! and yes, my costume totally did rock! we looked like we came jumped right out a Harry Potter book (preferably GoF since thats my fav lol).  
_ring of rubies_: i will def try and get a pansy shot in there but i have to figure out what to make happen first. ideas are welcome :). and yes draco is annoying, but you have to admit... it's hilarious  
_Gileon_: i was cracking up when i read your review! yes draco is like a ninja wrapped in stealth thats wrapped in a sexy outer coating lol! i totally agree with you on that one!  
_cullens-little-sis_: i'm happy you find their interaction brilliant and dont worry, harry and will be making an appearance within a couple chapters  
_HarryPGinnyW4eva_: im glad you're enjoying it and don't worry, draco has some tricks up his sleeve!  
_dscott28_: im sooo happy you're enjoying it!  
_gigi_: thats great! i love the image i created because that is totally an inner draco kinda thing. im happy i could make you laugh!  
_mjmusiclover_: im happy you're liking it and im happy that you're still with the story adn reviewing every chapter! talk about a dedicated reader!  
_memsga_: i totally get what your saying! and yes, that is why we all love him lol! and im happy i could make you laugh. its always good to know when i can make my readers laugh through my writing. it makes me feel great!  
_soccercrazyfreak_: thanks! and thanks for sticking with the story since the begining!  
_kydarkangel2007_: lol yes he does  
_dracomalfoyswifey_: its okay! theres nothing wrong with spending time with your boyfriend. i'm not mad. and dont worry about finding toms song. im going to try and put it up on my profile and then you shoudl be able to find it from there. but from what i heard, hes going to try and have a cd by christmas so you'll prob hear it with some other new songs sooner then you think! yay!!  
_kazfeist_: i wanted to explain to you about draco's 'plan'. before he ever saw hermione and pansy was just telling him that she was going to be there, he wanted nothing to do with her. but then, once he saw her, he changed his mind completely. draco thinks it would be a good idea, not only for his ego, but for his family name in the long run, if he can get hermione to be on his side. don't worry if you still dont get it, everything will be explained more in teh story and if you have any questions, dont be afraid to ask adn i will answer them for you :)  
_padfootsgrl79_: hope vegas was fun!_

_wow guys thanks again! please remember to review!_


	9. An Awkward Situation

_Last Chapter: "Just forget it." Draco snapped lightly, turning and quickly walking away from Hermione._

_Hermione bit her lips together and watched as he walked down the street with his head hanging down low. She sighed before making up her mind and chasing after him. When she was behind him, she reached her hand out and grabbed his tightly in hers. He quickly stopped walking and turned to look at Hermione. She smiled kindly at him and he just looked back at her._

_They both stared into each other's eyes for a couple minutes until Hermione felt Draco tighten his grip on her hand and she smiled contently as he smiled back at her._

_Something had happened between them at that very moment, and it was something that hadn't happened yet since the war was over. Two enemies, people who hated each other for years on end, had shared stories and their feelings towards the war. The only thing was, in the end… they both had a complete and total understanding for what the other person felt._

_And for the first time in their lives, Draco and Hermione could stand next to each other without throwing a curse in the other ones direction._

_For the first time in their lives, Draco and Hermione… were finally friends._

* * *

Nine

April 12th  
Day 5

Draco sat across from Blaise that afternoon in The Leaky Cauldron as they ate their lunch during their lunch break. They sat in silence for most of the time seeing as Draco wasn't really in the talking mood at the moment. He had said more then he planned to the night before and revealed a side of himself that not many people knew about. Even worse than opening up was who he opened up to. Because of what he said there was a possibility he could have blown his chance with Granger. He made himself look weak and no girl wanted someone weak.

He sighed, taking a sip of his butterbeer. Blaise had heard him and looked up to see Draco running his fork through his gravy in his pot pie with his head resting in his free hand. He noticed straight away that Draco didn't look like himself and decided to say something. "Draco…."

Draco, however, had his mind on something completely different. The thought had crossed his mind that maybe Hermione wasn't like any other girl he had been with, so he really didn't know what to expect. In Hogwarts, he hadn't left the Slytherins when it came to getting with a girl, and almost all of them were the same. They were all too skinny for their own good, stuck-up, unintelligent for the most part, slutty, weak, and the prejudice pureblood who forced issues and drama on themselves and everybody around them.

Hermione was a Gryffindor, the house of the brave. Maybe she could respect his weakness and he wouldn't be out of luck just yet.

"Draco…." This time Draco had heard him, and he quickly took his head from his hands and looked up at Blaise. "What the hell is the matter with you today?"

"What are you talking about?" Draco asked, taking a bite of his pie. "I'm fine."

"Please Draco." Blaise said with a laugh. "You didn't even think that hard during your owls." Draco glared at Blaise. "What's on your mind?"

"I told you…." Draco took another bite of his pie before continuing. "I'm fine."

"You've always been an awful liar." Blaise said shaking his head.

"I'm a Slytherin. Slytherins are born as great liars."

"Well then the hat sorted you wrong."

Draco rolled his eyes, quickly thinking of something to change the subject to."So how's that girlfriends of yours doing? Amelia… right?"

Blaise let out a little laugh and shook his head. "You're so good at changing the subject." Blaise grabbed his glass of water and brought it to his lips, taking a small sip before placing it back on the table. "Amelia isn't my girlfriend. We're like… friends with benefits."

Draco snorted, taking a bite of his lip. "Have you ever had anything other than 'friends with benefits'?"

"Well after seeing my mother and how fast she went through all her husbands, I guess you could say I lost all interest in a permanent relationship."

"Doesn't you mother want grandchildren?"

"My mother isn't like your mother Draco." Blaise said, taking another sip of his water and sighing. "As long as she has her galleons that all her deceased husbands left her then she could care less."

Draco stopped halfway from brining his fork to his mouth when he saw the sudden sadness in his friends face. His mother was always too busy with her money and trying to find a new husband that she rarely ever cared about anything else, including her own son. "Hey…." Draco exclaimed, trying to get Blaise's attention as he stared at the table with a blank expression on his face. When Blaise finally looked up at Draco, his forced a small grin on his face. "I thought you said she changed after the war, mate?"

Blaise just shrugged. "She did for a while but…-." Blaise licked his lips then forced a larger smile on his face and took a bite of his lunch. "It's alright, mate. I'm fine."

"You sure?"

"Yeah, I'm fine." Draco shrugged his shoulders and took a bite of his pie. "So are we going on our weekly trip to the bar?" Draco just laughed and shook his head in disbelief. "What?" Blaise asked, confused on what he was laughing at.

"You're unbelievable." Draco said taking a sip of his butterbeer. "Can you do anything besides drink and snog with girls."

Blaise laughed. "I do more than snog Draco. You know that."

"Do I ever." Draco said under his breath.

"So we're going right? After work…?"

"Sorry, mate. I already have plans tonight."

Blaise almost chocked on his water at Draco words. After he put his glass down, he let out a small laugh, gaining a glare from Draco. "_You_ have plans? You?"

"What the hell does that mean, Zabini? Do you forget who was considered the sex god in Hogwarts?" Draco asked with a smirk, raising an eye brow

This time, Blaise laughed so hard he almost spilled his water all over the table. "I just meant that lately all you've been doing is spending your free time at Pansy's shop."

"I am a manager Blaise."

"I know. But it seems like I only see you at work. We used to go out every night and hook up with girls. Don't you miss those days?" Draco just shrugged, taking another bite. "Wow. Your mother has really gotten to you."

"It's not my mother Blaise." Draco said with a smile.

"Draco, please. I know she's been up your ass about settling down and giving her some grandchildren."

"Yeah, she has." Draco admitted. "But that's not what's going on here."

"Well… then what is?" Draco didn't answer, quickly taking a sip of his drink to get out of answering his friends questions. "Draco… don't ignore me."

"I'm not ignoring you." Draco quickly wiped his hands with a napkin and then placed it on the table along with the proper amount of sickles for his meal. "We're going to be late getting back if we don't leave."

"You _are_ bloody ignoring my question." Blaise said, throwing the proper amount of money down as well. Draco just smirked and rolled his eyes, quickly leaving the restaurant and forcing Blaise to chase after him. "Is it that bad that you can't even tell your best mate?"

"Don't start playing that best mate card on me." Draco said with a glare.

"Well then why are you avoiding the question?"

"I'm not avoiding the question. I'm avoiding the reaction I'm going to get from you when I tell you."

Blaise let out a small chuckle. "You're Draco Malfoy, mate."

"So?"

"So… whatever is going on with you I will eventually find out. You're family is still one of the most watched ex-Death Eater families because of how involved you were. Whatever you have going on will be in the Daily Prophet within the next couple of days." Draco just laughed because his friend was right. His family couldn't even go to dinner together without somebody writing an article about them. He was honestly surprised that what happened the night before with Hermione was still in the dark seeing as they made a fairly big scene. "Come on, Draco. Tell me."

"You know… you sound like Pansy." Blaise stared back at Draco, waiting for him to tell him what he was hiding. "Fine. I have a date, okay?"

"A date?" Blaise said looking at Draco with disbelief. "I thought you didn't date?"

"This girl is different."

"How? Who is it?"

Draco laughed. "You really are Pansy."

"Fine." Blaise snapped. "Don't tell me. But at least come to my party tonight. You can bring your date."

"Your party? You just asked me not give minutes ago if we were going out drinking tonight and now you're having a party? When did you decide to have a party?"

"When I decided I wanted to meet your mystery girl." Draco pushed the door open as they reached the entrance of the Ministry of Magic. "What do you say? Eight sound good?"

Draco sighed before agreeing. "Alright, I'll see if she wants to go."

"Great." Blaise said with a smirk.

"Under one condition though Zabini."

"What?"

"Don't say anything about who my date is, okay?"

Blaise laughed. "Is she that ugly?"

Draco glared at his friend. "Have you ever known me to date an ugly girl?" Blaise just smirked. "Just trust me. I know what I'm doing."

"Oh boy." Blaise said with a smile before him and Draco went their separate ways. "I cannot wait for tonight."

* * *

Draco arrived at The Purple Pansy at around six that night. He pushed the front door open and immediately started looking around for Hermione. When he didn't see her, he went to Amanda who was at the front desk and greeted her with a smile. "Good evening Amanda."

"Hello Mr. Malfoy"

"Have we been busy today?"

"Oh, yes." Amanda said with a smile. "And the some of the dresses that Pansy left to get done by magic were all finished today and we put them out on the rack." She pointed over towards the rack that was directly behind Draco. Draco turned to see them, his eyes first spotting a tea length, bright green dress, the same one he spotted in Pansy's designs that he liked.

Draco turned back to Amanda. "I see she made the one we both liked."

Amanda laughed. "Yeah. It's been quite a seller actually."

"I guess we have good taste." Draco said with a smile, causing Amanda to smile back. "Is Hermione still here?"

Amanda nodded. "She disappeared about an hour ago. I believe she's in the office."

"Thanks." Draco said, giving her one more smile before climbing the stairs and heading for the office. When he reached the office door, he quietly pushed it open and then pocked his head inside. Sure enough, Hermione was standing behind the desk, her head facing the desk as she quickly sorted through papers that layered the desk. Draco let out a small laugh and then walked all the way into the room. "You didn't change one bit."

Hermione's head shot up and their eyes locked. "Oh, Malfoy. You scared me. I didn't hear you come in."

"Sorry." Draco said with a laugh. "It wasn't my intention." Hermione just nodded her head and then went back to what she was doing. Draco approached the desk slowly, not being able to deny the awkwardness that was in the room. "So… what are you doing exactly?"

"I came up here earlier for a tape measure to help a costumer and I couldn't help but notice how unorganized this place was."

"So you decided to organize it?"

"Yeah. I hope you or Pansy don't mind. I just-."

"Wanted to help." Draco said with a smile.

"Yeah…." Hermione said, licking her lips nervously.

"So I was wondering-"

"Look, about last night-"

Hermione and Draco both spoke and stopped talking at the same time. Draco cleared his throat and looked around the room awkwardly while Hermione bit her lips together. After a few seconds, they both made eye contact again and Draco spoke first. "You go first."

Hermione cleared her throat before speaking. "I realized this morning when I woke up that I never properly thanked you for dinner last night." Draco looked up at Hermione with a small smile, not believing what he was hearing. "So… thanks." Draco nodded his head as Hermione continued to talk. "And besides the…fighting… it was a good night."

"Really?" Draco asked, trying not to sound so surprised.

"Well, yeah." Hermione admitted with a small smile. "Believe it or not, I had fun."

"Well that's great." Draco said, finally reaching the desk. "I was actually wondering if you wanted to go out again tonight?"

"A-again?" Hermione asked, completely pausing on what she was doing and staring at Draco, her mouth open slightly.

"Yeah. I mean I know you said just this once and I agreed but I figured that since you said you had fun that maybe you would want to go out again tonight." As Draco talked, he fingered the papers lining the desk, waiting patiently and awkwardly for Hermione to say something. "I mean if-."

"Where are we going?" A small smile present on her lips.

"A friend of mine is having a party and I told him I would see if you wanted to come."

"Oh. This friend of yours isn't like… Goyle, right?"

Draco let out a snort. "No. I'm afraid me and Greg haven't really talked much since Crabbe, uh… passed."

"Oh, I'm sorry to hear that."

"Yeah me to." Draco said sadly, lowering his head for a couple of seconds before looking back up at Hermione. "So what do you say Granger? I'll pick you up at Pansy's place at 7:30 and we'll go to the party?"

"What kind of party is this, Malfoy? Because considering you're a Malfoy and your friends with all purebloods then wouldn't this party be filled with purebloods?"

"Yeah, but-."

"Then I don't know Malfoy. I mean, I am a muggleborn and the war just ended a few months ago. Going to this party would be like walking right into enemy territory."

Draco laughed."The war opened a lot more eyes then you think it did Granger. Pansy and I are a perfect example. Sure, there's still those prejudice purebloods out there, but they're the minority." Hermione still didn't look convinced, so Draco continued. "And besides, I'll be right there next to you the whole time. Nobody's going to bother you when you're next to me. Not to mention I'll be the host's best friend."

"You promise nothing bad will happen?"

"Yeah." Draco said with a smile. "I promise."

"Well… alright then."

"Great. So, 7:30?"

"7:30." Hermione said with a nod, continuing to organizing her papers.

"Uh, do you want some help?"

Hermione smiled up at Draco and then nodded her head. "Sure. That would be great."

Draco moved around the table and stood next to Hermione, helping her to organize the desk. Neither noticed the small glances they kept stealing of each other as they finished putting all the papers back before they would head in their separate directions to get ready for the party later that night.

* * *

_Hello Everybody!_

_First off, sorry for the delay on updating. Ive been so busy with work and with Christmas shopping, but hopefully this chapter made up for it. _

_Secondly, thanks for all those who reviewed. I got so many and it made me so happy to see them all! _

_So thanks to:  
_memsga_: im happy you liked it. and yes... he really was being truthful :)  
_veranatalie_: he is a genius :)  
_lacym3_: it was good. he needed to get it all out  
_HarryPGinnyW4eva_: im happy your enjoying the story and im also happy that you said i wasn't going to fast because that was one of the things i was worried about. you made me feel better so thanks.  
_padfootsgirl79_: i love your suggestion! it will happen but not quite yet. i think the chemistry needs to build some more ;)  
__: thanks for your review! it made me laugh and feel so good about my story at the same time. i loved the comparisions you used. they had me cracking up.  
_reader_: im happy you liked it  
_(blank): _thanks for that amazing review! im happy you like the story and thanks so much for the compliment. it meant a lot!  
_soccersyd_: im happy you liked it.  
_dezagonj_: im happy you liked it and sorry for the delay  
_kydarkangel2007_: yeah he did but you still have to feel bad for him :(  
_dracomalfoyswifey_: OMG i know! next year though for the cd :(. we still have a long wait. and thanks for that HUGE compliment. it means a great deal to me when people tell me that im their favorite author. so thanks again!  
_90sgurl_: lol yeah theres a first time for everything i guess.  
_maria_: im so happy you loved it! im happy you like this story and all my other stories :)  
_ring of rubies_: lol yeah for draco and hermione that is what 'friends' means. and im pretty sure that i will do a pansy part but not to sure when.  
_rec2527_: happy you like it! many more chapters to come._

_So, thanks again for all the reviews guys! I didn't get the twenty but i still got enough to make me smile, so thanks :D! And sorry for the huge delay. please please please remember to review again everybody! i already have the next chapter planned out in my head so if i get enough reviews then ill write that one next and give you guys an update straight away. until next time!  
_


	10. Dancing with a Compliment

_It's been a while since I updated and I appologize. There's a lot going on in my life right now and im sorry to say that my writing has taken a backseat. Not to worry, I'm still going to continue to update they just might not be as often as I used to be with them. _

_Thanks to those who reviewed last chapter:  
JazzedVanilla: Not to sure on how long the story will be since I dont do outlines for my stories and just kind of write the chapters as they come to me. If i had to take a guess i would have to say no more then 30.  
pink-strawberries: im happy you liked it  
HarryPGinnyW4eva: glad to hear you're enjoying it  
padfootsgrl79: it's going to be great :)  
mjmusiclover: thanks for the review... like always ;P  
Zenna Jahan Skyfyre: sorry the new chapter took so long to get updated :(  
xo-melodrama: last chapter wasn't my best and i agree, it could have been longer.  
silvereyedwolf: Pansy should be making an appearance in either chapter 12 or 13, so keep an eye out for her :)  
soccersyd: hope you like it!  
Irmorena: yay!  
dracomalfoyswifey: i already have Pansy's reaction planned out in head and i hope youre going to like it  
daniela1417: im happy you like their growing chemistry becuase i was afraid that it was a possibility i was moving to quickly with it.  
90sgurl: thanks!  
forever-heartbroken: no worries. hermione's friends are going to be making an appearance within the next couple of chapters, so you'll def. be seeing them soon _

* * *

Last Chapter: "You promise nothing bad will happen?"

_"Yeah." Draco said with a smile. "I promise."_

_"Well… alright then."_

_"Great. So, 7:30?"_

_"7:30." Hermione said with a nod, continuing to organizing her papers._

_"Uh, do you want some help?"_

_Hermione smiled up at Draco and then nodded her head. "Sure. That would be great."_

_Draco moved around the table and stood next to Hermione, helping her to organize the desk. Neither noticed the small glances they kept stealing of each other as they finished putting all the papers back before they would head in their separate directions to get ready for the party later that night._

* * *

Ten

April 12th  
Day 5

The sun was just setting as Draco knocked on Pansy's front door, waiting patiently for his date to answer. After a couple seconds of waiting, Draco heard scurrying from inside the house and then a voice yell.

"I'll be right there!"

Draco smirked to himself. The Gryffindor was either running late or trying to finish dolling herself up, and he doubted she would ever run late. The thought of Hermione making herself look good for a date with him only caused Draco's smirk to grow more and his ego to practically burst. This night was going to go just fine.

Just as the door opened, Draco quickly turned his smirk into a smile, but the smile didn't last for very long. His jaw practically hit the ground when he saw the site before him. Hermione's hair ran in curls down her back and shoulders while her lips were highlighted in a light pink, making her smile look a million times brighter. Her brown eyes seemed to pop out at Draco as the black eye liner and mascara lined them perfectly.

'_And her curves…'._ Draco thought to himself, suppressing a groan in the back of his throat. The dress hugged every curve on her body to the point of where Draco could explain them to anybody in full without missing any details. The dress was perfect in every way on her, showing off her beautiful shoulders and long legs. "Granger, you look-."

"Is it too much?" She asked immediately, forming her lips into a tight line and folding her hands in front of her. "Because I can-." Hermione pointed behind her, trying to explain that she could change into something else, but Draco quickly cut her off.

"No!" His sudden cry for her to keep the dress on caught Hermione, and even himself, off guard. Draco cleared his throat as Hermione stared back at him, one eyebrow raised into the air. "No, you look great." Draco said in a calmer voice, smiling kindly at Hermione.

Hermione smiled back at him, trying to hide a blush. "Thanks."

They stared back at each other, Draco examining the dress more carefully. It was then that he realized that he had seen this dress before. And not only had he seen it, but he had pointed it out that he liked it enough for the designer to make it. It was the same dress that he had pointed out to Amanda back in Pansy's shop. It was the same green one that he saw in Pansy's sketch book, the same one he saw on the rack in the store, and the same one that caught his eye right off the bat. And that dress wasn't the only thing that was catching his eye tonight.

Draco cleared his throat again, noticing that he was staring at Hermione's dress in awe as she stared back at him curiously. "So… are you ready to go?"

"Sure." Hermione said, turning back to look inside the apartment. "Just… let me grab my purse." She disappeared inside the house for a couple seconds then came back out, still smiling at Draco. Draco held his arm out as Hermione latched onto it.

"Hang on tight." Draco said, gripping Hermione's arm tighter as he apparated. With a pop, the sun disappeared completely and their feet hit a pebbled walkway. "Well, here we are." Draco said, looking up at the huge manor in front of him.

"Wow." Hermione said looking up at it as well, unlatching her arm from Draco's and taking a step forward in amazement. "This place is huge." Hermione paused, turning back to look at Draco who was smiling at her. Hermione smiled back, the turned back to look at the manor. "It looks bigger then-." Hermione paused, licking her lips nervously as she realized she was about to mention something that she didn't really want to bring up.

"My manor…?" Draco asked slowly, already knowing what she was going to say.

Hermione cleared her throat nervously, turning back slowly to Draco. "Yeah…." She slowly approached Draco, looking up at him sadly. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean-"

"It's actually smaller." Draco said with a smile, purposely cutting Hermione off so they could avoid talking about that one night not too long ago when The Golden Trio was captured and brought to Draco's manor. "My manor beats his by about two acres. It's not that much, but it's still enough." Draco said to Hermione as he closed the distance between them, placing his hand on the small of her back. Hermione nodded back, understanding his reason for cutting her off and thanking him with her eyes. That night was something that she never wanted to talk about again. "So… are you ready?"

Hermione nodded, allowing Draco to lead her up the pebbled walkway towards the front doors that towered over them. "Hey Malfoy?" Hermione asked in a curious voice as they walked.

"Hmm?"

"Who's Manor is this exactly? You never told me." As the question left Hermione's lips, Draco knocked firmly on the door and watched as it opened straight away, a tiny house elf standing before them.

"Oh, hello Winky." Draco said with a smile, ignoring the look Hermione was giving him for not answering her question.

"Ah, Mister Draco." The house elf named Winky said with a smile. "Master Blaise told me to expect you as one of the guest this evening."

"Master Blaise?" Hermione asked in a whisper, looking at Draco with her mouth open slightly. "Blaise Zabini?"

Draco didn't look at Hermione, instead he kept his full attention on the house elf in front of him. "Is everybody in the ballroom?"

"Yes, sir."

"Okay, thanks Winky. I can take it from here." The house elf bowed slightly before walking away back towards the kitchen. Draco turned to Hermione and smiled, placing his hand back on the square of her back and guiding her towards the ballroom. "Come on, Granger." Draco said, holding out his arm. "And you might want to take my arm. I'm not exactly sure who's going to be here tonight."

"'Not sure who's going to be here tonight'?" Hermione repeated in a hushed whisper. "What in the bloody hell is wrong with you Malfoy?"

"Will you relax, Granger." Draco said, looking at her with a warm smile.

"How can I relax? I wouldn't have come if I knew Blaise Zabini would be hosting this party. Blaise Zabini is-."

"My best mate." Draco said, cutting Hermione off before she could insult his friend.

"Well, he might be your best mate but I've always seen him as an ass. I didn't even think you two got along." Hermione said, just remembering how the two weren't seen together very much in Hogwarts. "When did he become your best mate? Every time I saw you two, you were always shooting daggers at each other."

Draco let out a little laugh as they inched closer towards the ballroom. "Well I started working at the Ministry at the same time that Blaise did. We worked in the same department and saw each other almost every day, so I guess you could say that started the whole 'bonding' experience. Then when Goyle and I stopped talking…" Draco sighed. "Well it was depressing for me." He said as he ran his free hand through his hair. "Blaise saw how depressed and lonely I was and offered his friendship, which I gladly took. Now that I'm used to him… he's not that bad of a guy."

"Look Malfoy, I don't want to go in there." Hermione stopped right as they were about to walk through the door, causing Draco to freeze in his spot as well.

"Come on Granger." Draco was practically begging.

"No, Malfoy. It's just going to be filled with a bunch of people I never liked and people that never liked me. What's the point of going in there? I'll just get glares and be ignored by everybody the entire night."

Draco smiled at her stubbornness. "No you won't. You'll be with me."

"Oh, right. Mister popular over here." Hermione rolled her eyes at Draco.

"I told you earlier that nothing was going to happen to you tonight, didn't I?" Hermione just stared up at Draco as he pleaded with her. "I promised you that nothing would happen, and I'm going to keep that promise." Hermione let out a groan, turning her head and looking at the doors that led to the ballroom. "Besides, nobody could glare or make fun of you in that outfit." The words left Draco's mouth before he even knew what he was saying, but it was too late to take it back. Hermione turned her head and looked at Draco, not believing he had just given her a compliment. "Come on. We'll go and dance, have some drinks, and just catch up on old times."

Hermione let out a tiny laugh. "Because we have those 'good old times' to catch up on."

"Please, Granger. I promise that nothing will happen, and if something does happen, we'll leave straight away."

Hermione sighed. "Alright. But if one thing happens Malfoy then I'm out of there faster than you can say prejudice purebloods."

Draco let out a laugh, holding his arm out yet again for Hermione to grab a hold on, then pushing the doors of the ballroom opening and stepping inside. Hermione's mouth fell open as she looked around at the beautiful room. The walls were painted a deep shade of purple that seemed to run right up to the ceiling. The window sills were painted white and matched the white tiled floor that made Hermione feel like she was walking through snow.

As they walked farther and farther in, Hermione couldn't believe how many people were at this party, and it seemed that Draco couldn't either. "I cannot believe he got this many people to come in such a short amount of time." He spoke under his breath, talking to himself more than anybody else, but Hermione had heard him.

"What do you mean a short amount of time…?" She asked, looking up at Draco.

"Uh…." Draco quickly tried to think up an excuse. He didn't think Hermione would appreciate the fact that this party was only planned earlier that day and that she was the cause of it. "Oh, look, Blaise is coming this way." Draco said quickly, pulling Hermione quickly towards Blaise, ignoring her protest.

When they finally came face to face with Blaise, Draco stuck out his free hand and shook his best mates politely. "Some party you got here, mate."

"Thanks Draco." Blaise said, taking a quick glance at the person latched onto Draco's arm before looking back up at his friend. It took Blaise a couple seconds to register exactly who the person was latched onto Draco's arm, but once he did, he quickly turned back to her in shock. "Granger?" He asked, his eyes big with surprise. "Hermione Granger?"

"Hello Zabini." Hermione said, forcing a smile and moving slightly closer towards Draco.

Blaise chuckled to himself before looking back up at Draco, but once he saw the glare that Draco was sending his way, he quickly stopped laughing and turned back to Hermione. "Sorry." He quickly apologized, the evidence of a laugh still painted on his face. "I just never thought it would have a member of the golden trio in my manor." _Especially holding onto the arm of my best mate._ Blaise finished the last part in his head, thinking that Draco wouldn't exactly appreciate it very much.

"I can assure you, Zabini, that I never exactly planned on it." Hermione retorted back.

Blaise smiled back. "No need to get nasty Granger. I was just simply making a comment."

Hermione opened her mouth to say something, but Draco quickly cut in. "There's a lot of people here, mate. I must admit I didn't expect this many."

"I have my connections." Blaise smirked, looking around the room. He paused when he seemed to have spotted somebody and then quickly nodded his head in their direction. He turned back to Draco and Hermione with a smile. "I'm afraid I have more guest to attend to. You know where everything is at Draco, just make yourself at home."

"Thanks." Draco said, watching as Blaise started walking in the opposite direction then turning to Hermione. "Would you like something to drink?" Draco asked her.

"Sure." Hermione said, allowing Draco to lead her towards the drink table. He quickly poured himself and Hermione a glass of wine, then handed hers to her and led her towards one of the empty tables. They both took a seat and sat in an awkward silence for what felt like hours, just staring around at all the people who were dancing. As Draco watched them dance, his eyes seemed to wander towards the far end of the dance floor and that was when he spotted him.

Standing out in the background due to his black, spiky hair and long legs that made him a couple inches taller than the average person was Theodore Nott. He was extremely thin, weak built, and Draco had always despised him. He was always too good to hang out with all the other Slytherins. He kept to himself almost all the time, only speaking to them when it was convenient for him, and he was extremely sneaky, never stopping until he got exactly what he wanted.

Draco rolled his eyes when he saw Nott spot a blonde in the audience and start to approach her, but then he stopped suddenly, his eyes landing on Draco. They glared at each other for a couple seconds until Nott's eyes traveled over towards Hermione, and then his glare was replaced by a look of interest and it didn't take long for a smirk to appear across his lips.

Draco watched in horror as the tall Slytherin approached them. He knew that Nott would try and take Hermione from him, and he wasn't exactly sure if Hermione would be able to say no to him. Nott could put on his charm if he needed to, but he could also turn it off in a second and turn back into the slime ball that he really was, and Draco was determined to keep his promise to Hermione that nothing would happen to her.

Draco quickly stood up, turning to Hermione and trying not to sound so rushed as Nott quickly made his way over towards them. "Want to dance, Granger?" Draco asked, holding his hand out.

"Oh, I don't know Malfoy." Hermione said shyly, smiling up at Draco slightly.

"Come on Granger, that's what the music is for."

"I know what the music is for, Malfoy." Hermione rolled her eyes. "I'm just not very good at dancing."

Draco laughed. "You dance fine during the Yule Ball."

"Yes, well… Viktor was leading me then."

"Then I'll lead you now." Hermione looked up at Draco still unsure. "Come on, Granger. Stop making up excuses to not dance with me."

"I'm not making up excuses, Malfoy."

"Then what do you have to lose?" Draco continued to smile at her.

Hermione sighed, standing up and taking Draco's hand. "Fine. But one quick dance and I mean it."

Draco took Hermione's hand and quickly led her towards the dance floor. "Whatever you say Granger." He said, turning his head to notice that Nott had stopped only a few feet from where they were standing, a glare sent directly in Draco's direction. Draco smirked back at him and then turned to Hermione as they found a spot on the dance floor.

They stopped off towards the side of the dance floor, both turning to face each other. Draco slowly placed his hands on her waist as Hermione placed hers on Draco's shoulder, both moving cautiously and sneaking glances at one another before they came in contact with each other. They started moving with each other to the music, staring into each other's eyes for a couple seconds before Hermione turned her attention to the crowd around her. Draco, however, kept his eyes locked on Hermione. He couldn't help it. She was so… different from everybody else he had ever dated and he couldn't help but notice that it was actually nice having her around. Sure she was still a buck-tooth beaver know-it-all but she had some good qualities as well. He was finally starting to realize why Potter and Weasley kept her around for so long.

Draco came back into focus when he heard Hermione clear her throat. He looked down at her to see her staring at him with one eyebrow raised in the air. He smiled at her which only caused her to look even more shocked. "Why are you staring at me like that, Malfoy?"

"I-uh, I wasn't staring at you, Granger." Draco said quickly.

"Yes you were."

"I was just thinking and you were what I happened to be looking at. It was nothing but coincidence." He replied, finding his excuse extremely stupid and knew that Hermione wouldn't believe it for a second.

"Whatever." She said under her breath, turning back to watching the people around them dance.

Draco, who didn't want to lose whatever brownie points he had gained with Hermione, decided that it was time to step up his game and try to work some of his charm on her. "So Granger, what's it like in Australia?"

"I'm sorry?" Hermione asked as she looked up at Draco, her lips hiding a smile that she obviously wanted to show.

"What's Australia like? You know, what's the weather like there?" Hermione couldn't help but smile at Draco's question. "Why are you smiling?" He asked seriously.

"Are you really making small talk about the weather in Australia?" She asked with a small laugh.

"Yes." Hermione laughed harder this time. "What I can't make small talk about the weather in Australia? Maybe I'm interested in visiting Australia some time and I wanted to know what its like."

"Alright, fine." Hermione said, still smiling brightly. "Where I live at it can get pretty chilly in the winter time but come summer it's nice. Personally I like the heat."

Draco scoffed. "I can't stand the heat."

"I don't think any Slytherins can." Hermione commented. "Especially since seven years of your life are spent in the dungeons of Hogwarts."

"That has nothing to do with the preferences of hot or cold, Granger."

"Please Malfoy." Hermione said with a roll of her eyes. "It's freezing down there. Nobody can spend a good portion of their life living there and not come out loving the cold weather."

"Fine." Draco said with a small smile, not really wanting to get into an argument when he was trying to win her over, especially one so silly. "How about the wizards and witches there?"

"What about them?"

"Were they nice, mean, weird, normal…?"

Hermione laughed. "They were actually pretty weird. But then again all people in Adelaide are slightly strange."

Draco laughed. "Well then I guess I know where I'm not taking my next vacation."

Hermione slapped him lightly on the chest with a small smile. "It's not that bad. It's actually a really beautiful city."

"Is that why you chose to go there to work?" Hermione looked up at Draco confused, waiting for him to finish his question. "It only makes sense for a beautiful person to go live in a beautiful city." The words left his mouth before he could stop them, and he regretted saying them right away. Hermione bit her lips together and lowered her head as Draco stared down at her. She didn't respond, but Draco couldn't help but notice that her cheeks had turned a light shade of red. He also couldn't help but notice that the way they were dancing and holding each other had suddenly turned extremely awkward. Draco decided he needed to break the awkward silence. "Granger I'm-"

"I think… I think I'm done dancing for now." She said, only looking up at Draco for a split second before lowering her head. Draco wanted to smack himself in the face for what he had said. Just when everything as starting to go right, he had to say something dumb and ruin the whole thing.

"Do you… want to go for a walk outside? The Zabini Manor has a beautiful garden if I do say so myself."

"Sure." Hermione said with a small and awkward smile. "Just let me go powder my nose real quick."

Draco laughed slightly, finding those words foreign from Hermione's mouth, but nodding anyway. "I'll be right here when you're done." Hermione nodded and then turned her back on Draco, heading for the exit. As he watched her leave a though came to him that maybe she was making a getaway. But no, Hermione Granger was too good a person to ditch anyway. But it had become awkward. Maybe it became so awkward by what he had said to her that it was enough to make her flee. As Draco watched her turn the corner, he shook his head and smiled to himself. Hermione wasn't leaving, he was just paranoid.

Deciding he needed to drown his paranoia, he headed for the drink table, quickly pouring himself a glass of firewhiskey. He brought the liquid up to his lips and allowed it to burn his throat on the way down. To busy concentrating on the crowd and the liquor in his hand, he nearly dropped his drink when someone spoke directly next to him.

"What are you doing mate?"

Draco turned around, glaring at Blaise as he quickly checked to see if anybody had seen him jump. "What the hell Zabini!"

"What?"

"Don't what me! You scared the shit out of me." Blaise smirked, trying desperately to hide a laugh, but Draco noticed. "It's not funny."

"You're right, I'm sorry." Blaise said, actually laughing this time. "Maybe if you weren't thinking about Granger so hard you would have noticed that you walked up right next to me."

"I wasn't concentrating on Granger."

Blaise rolled his eyes. "Don't lie to me, mate. I've been watching you this whole time." Draco said nothing in response,. There was no use lying to Blaise, he would find out the truth eventually anyway. "What are you doing?"

"Enjoying my firewhiskey." Draco replied, showing it to Blaise before taking another sip.

"I mean with Granger." Blaise said, getting annoyed. "Since when are you interested in the Gryffindor beaver?"

"Since I decided to help my family name."

Blaise stared back at his friend blankly for a few seconds before he finally realized what Draco meant by what he said. "You're using her?" Draco's response was to take a sip of his drink. "Wow Draco." Blaise said, shaking his head and turning to watch the people dancing. "And to think… people actually thought you changed into a better person, including myself."

"I am a better person!" Draco snapped, turning to glare at his best friend.

"This doesn't exactly help to prove that."

"I know that. But something's are more important than others." Draco paused, seeing the questionable look on Blaise's face before deciding to explain himself. "If I look like a bad guy to her in the end, then fine, but at least my family name will be restored.

"And please…, enlighten me, how are you going to 'restore' your family name?"

"Granger is known as Potters best friend, brains of the Golden Trio, and the symbol to all the muggleborns out there. I'm known as son of Lucius Malfoy, ex-Deatheater, and a guy that all around hates muggleborns and everything they stand for. If I at _least_ befriend Granger, everybody will think that the Malfoy's have a change of heart. Nobody will think badly about us anymore, especially since they know that Granger doesn't."

"You said at least." Blaise pointed out.

"Yeah, I did." Draco said as his eyes wandered the room.

Blaise laughed. "What…? Are you planning on marrying the Gryffindor?"

"Like I would sink that low." Draco snapped, refilling his glass with more firewhiskey. "I'm going to make her fall in love with me Blaise, and I'll do what I have to do to achieve that." Draco sipped his drink. "Even sleep with her."

Blaise shook his head, seeing flaws in his plan. "It's not going to work, you know that right?"

"Trust me, it will."

Blaise just rolled his eyes. "This is all going to blow up in your face, mate." He said under his breath, watching as his friend ignored him.

Draco knew that the possibility of his plan failing was there, but he was determined not to see that. He needed this plan to succeed and he would do whatever he had to do to achieve that. As his eyes wandered the room, keeping an eye out for when Hermione came back, he spotted Nott, a charming and fake smirk on his face as he tried to get one of the girls to dance with him. "What did you invite Nott for?" Draco asked his friend.

"You know, just because you didn't get along with him in school doesn't mean that everybody else didn't."

"He's a fake, Blaise."

"Nott and I got along in school, mate. We both pretty much kept to ourselves, staying away from your little group of friends as much as we could, and in the end I think _that_ is what saved our asses."

"Yes, well, the difference between you and Nott is that Nott did come to 'my little group', as you so nicely put it, when it was convenient for him." Draco sighed slightly, watching Nott cautiously. "He annoyed the bloody hell out of me."

"You know Draco-." Blaise suddenly stopped talking at the look on Draco's face. Draco, who had still been watching Nott, had suddenly stood more upright and Blaise could sense that he was suddenly more tense, especially when he saw the glare that he was shooting at Nott turn to a sudden look of horror. "What?"

But Draco didn't answer him because the one thing he promised Hermione was about to come crashing down. Hermione had entered the room seconds ago but Nott had seen her before he had, and now he was quickly approaching Hermione with the same determined look on his face. Draco had to do something and quickly. "Shit." Draco swore, throwing his glass in Blaise's hands and practically sprinting over towards Hermione.

* * *

_Long chapter for you guys! This chapter was actually even longer and rounded out to be about 6000 words, but I personally thought that was to much for one chapter so i decided to split it into two. Just click that little next chapter button and keep on reading. the good stuff hasn't even happened yet :)_

_oh yeah... and review please! love to hear what you guys think!_


	11. Making Up Another Plan

_Last Chapter: "You know Draco-." Blaise suddenly stopped talking at the look on Draco's face. Draco, who had still been watching Nott, had suddenly stood more upright and Blaise could sense that he was suddenly more tense, especially when he saw the glare that he was shooting at Nott turn to a sudden look of horror. "What?"_

_But Draco didn't answer him because the one thing he promised Hermione was about to come crashing down. Hermione had entered the room seconds ago but Nott had seen her before he had, and now he was quickly approaching Hermione with the same determined look on his face. Draco had to do something and quickly. "Shit." Draco swore, throwing his glass in Blaise's hands and practically sprinting over towards Hermione._

* * *

Eleven

April 12th  
Day 5

Hermione looked around the room, chewing on her bottom lip as she searched for Draco. He wasn't where he said he was going to be and she suddenly felt frustrated with him, not believing he would disappear into a sea of people who hated everything about her. As she turned her gaze to the right, her eyes suddenly locked with a set of blue eyes. A tall man with Black hair was staring at her, a giant grin on his face, and the worst was Hermione recognized him from Hogwarts. "Hello Nott." She said, faking the kindness in her voice and quickly turning, still searching for Draco.

"You look like you lost somebody." Nott said, still grinning at Hermione.

Hermione continued to look around for Draco as she spoke. "Actually, I did. I can't seem to find my-"

"Your date?" Nott asked as Hermione looked up at him. "You mean Malfoy?" Hermione nodded and Nott's grin grew. "Oh, I saw him disappear outside a few minutes ago. He should be back soon."

"Oh." Hermione said, turning her head to see if she could spot Draco outside. "Well then maybe I should-"

"What do you say to a dance while you're waiting for Malfoy to come back inside?" Nott held out his arm, putting on the most charming smile he could muster.

Hermione smiled back kindly. "No thank you. I don't think my date would appreciate that very much."

"Oh, come on Granger." Nott said. "Malfoy and I were great friends in Hogwarts. I don't think he'll mind a quick dance."

"No thank you." Hermione said a bit impatiently this time, quickly turning on her heel to walk away. Nott, on the other hand, wasn't going to have anybody say no to him. He quickly shot his hand out, grabbing Hermione's upper arm and pulling her back towards him. "Hey! Let me go!" Hermione yelled trying to pull away from Nott's grip.

"Just a quick dance, Granger. What do you say?"

"I already said no." Hermione continued to try and pull her arm away from Nott's grip, but he was to strong.

"Now, Granger-"

"Is there a problem here?" Both Hermione and Nott turned to see Draco standing before him, his eyes glaring at Nott and fist clenched at his sides. "I believe _my_ date said she didn't want to dance Nott."

"Actually she did, Malfoy."

"No I didn't!" Hermione snapped, still trying to pull away from Nott's tightening grip.

"Let go of her Nott." Draco said through his teeth.

"Come on now, Malfoy. You can't have her the whole night."

"She's my date, Nott. If I want to have her the whole night then I will."

"You've always been a selfish bastard." Nott said, pulling Hermione closer towards him, ignoring her protest. "Which is why you should share her and prove that you really aren't the selfish bastard that truly lies on the inside."

"I'm not a thing to be shared!" Hermione yelled, still trying to get away from Nott's grip, looking at Draco for help.

"Nott, remove your hands from Hermione before I remove them for you!" Draco yelled.

Nott clicked his tongue, shaking his head at Draco. "You still haven't learned your manners yet, have-." But Draco had heard enough. He quickly brought his fist up and made contact with the side of Nott's face, catching him off guard and sending him back a couple of steps. Draco quickly grabbed onto Hermione's hand, pulling her behind him and out of Nott's reach before he had time to retaliate. "You son of a bitch!" Nott yelled a couple seconds later, jumping at Draco.

With a shove, Draco was forced back onto one of the tables as Nott came charging at him. Just as Nott was about to hit Draco with a punch, he quickly dove to the side, causing Nott's fist to hit a glass plate on the table and shatter it into pieces. With glass in his fist and a scream of pain, Nott turned back to Draco and punched him in face with the same fist covered in glass. Draco cried out in pain as he fell to the floor from Nott's forceful punch. It only took a couple seconds before Nott was on top of Draco, one hand gripping his shirt to hold him up as the other smashed repeatedly into his face.

Somewhere between the punches, Draco found the strength again to fight back and quickly brought a knee up to Nott's groin, sending him rolling onto his back. Quickly as lightning, Draco was on top of Nott, sending punches into his face and chest to relieve his anger before he got out what he should have gotten out a while ago. Pulling his wand out of his pocket, he pushed the tip of it into Nott's throat. They both laid there, glaring at each other and breathing heavily. It took them a couple seconds to register that it was completely silent in the room, everybody had seen their little tussle. But Draco didn't care, all he cared about what that he had re-secured his chances with Hermione and that he could get the pieces of glass out of his cheek.

"Stay away from Hermione and me, do you understand?" Draco asked Nott, pressing the tip of his wand farther into Nott's neck. Nott didn't respond, just glared back at Draco, but Draco took that as a yes and quickly got up from Nott, turning to Hermione. "Come on Hermione, let's go." He grabbed her hand and with a quick look at Nott, started to lead her out towards the garden.

They walked outside quickly, knowing fairly well that all eyes were on them. When they were finally out of ear shot of the crowd, Hermione stopped walking and turned to Draco. "Let me see Malfoy." She said, turning him so he was facing her.

"I'm fine Granger." Draco said, turning his head so Hermione couldn't see the bruises and chunks of glass still in his cheek.

"Malfoy…." Hermione crossed her arms over her chest. "You have glass in your cheek." She pointed out.

"No I don't." Hermione quickly reached her hand up and grabbed Draco's chin, turning his head so she could see where Nott had landed his punch. "Ouch! Granger, not so rough!"

"Stop being a baby and let me remove that glass."

"Granger, I'm fine."

Hermione sighed. "What is it with guys always trying to act strong and like nothing is wrong when something actually is?" Draco just stared back at her. "Please let me help you before it scars."

"Alright, fine." Draco said, finally giving into Hermione's please.

Hermione grinned at him then grabbed his hand, pulling him over to a nearby table. Draco sat down in one of the chairs and Hermione sat across from him, pulling the chair closer to him so their knees were practically touching. She took her wand out of her purse and placed it on the table before leaning in closer towards Draco to get a better look at his injury. "Thank you… by the way." She said in a soft voice as Draco flinched from the first piece of glass being removed from the side of his face.

"I've wanted to beat the living daylight out of Nott for years now. He had it coming." Draco said with a smile.

Hermione smiled back. "Yes, well to be completely honest with you, you took a pretty bad beating as well."

"It's alright." Draco said as he watched Hermione remove all the small pieces of glass from his cheek. "I've seen worse."

Hermione laughed. "Me as well. Ron splinched himself once when we were out hunting horcruxes. It was terrible."

"I always knew Weasley was an idiot, but splinching yourself is pretty bad."

Hermione glared at Draco. "Mind you, we were on the run, about to get caught." She paused, taking in a deep breath. "You can't really blame him."

They were both silent for a few seconds, Hermione concentrating on removing the last of the glass from Draco's cheek as he watched her, staring deeply into her brown eyes. "I'm sorry Granger."

"Don't apologize for making fun of Ron. I'm used to that coming from you."

Draco laughed, watching as Hermione pulled the last chunk out of his cheek and pick up her wand. "I'm not apologizing for that."

"What could you be apologizing for besides that?" She asked, looking Draco in the eye.

"I promised nothing would happen to you tonight."

Hermione chuckled, allowing a small grin to form on her face before lightly tapping the tip of her wand to Draco's cheek. "And so far, you've kept your promise." With the look of confusion from Draco, Hermione's smile only grew. "Last time I checked, I was the one who fixed you up, not vice versa."

"You know, if you would have just danced with him then none of this would have happened." He said with a smirk, hoping Hermione would realize he was just teasing her.

Hermione scoffed, folding her hands across her chest and rolling her eyes. "Well if you had actually stayed where you told me you were going to stay, then I wouldn't have had to stand there like an idiot looking for you."

Draco looked slightly taken back by how serious she sounded and admitted a small laugh despite himself. "Granger… I was just messing with you."

Hermione stood up and slowly started to walk away from Draco. "I know." She paused, turning around and smirking at Draco before she started walking away again. "But I wasn't."

"Oh really?" Draco asked, standing up as well and catching up with her.

"Yes really." Hermione said, giving the blonde a small shove to the side when he walked up next to her.

Draco got his balance back from Hermione's shove and walked back over to her. "Technically, it was your entire fault. That whole fight _was_ about you." Draco said, shoving her just like she had shoved him.

Hermione turned to look at Draco, both of them smiling at each other. "That is true, but the fact still stands that none of this would have happened if you hadn't asked me to this party in the first place." She smirked at him, watching as Draco's face fell with defeat. "So therefore, it's your entire fault." At her accusation, she shoved Draco again, only this time harder than the last, and this one caught Draco completely off guard.

He stumbled to the left where both his feet landed on a pebbled rock way. As he tried to catch his balance, he ended up slipping on the pebbles and falling right into the dirt. Hermione couldn't help the laugh that escaped her lips as she looked down at Draco laying with his butt in the dirt. "I'm- sorry!" She said in-between laughs, now doubled over and grabbing her stomach as she tried to control her laughter.

"It's not funny, Granger." Draco said, although on the inside he was thinking the exact opposite. Hermione continued to laugh as Draco stayed sitting in the dirt, his arms now crossing across his chest as he watched her with amusement. "Are you done?" He asked when her laughter had somewhat died down.

"I'm sorry, Malfoy." She said, running her hand through her hair as her laughter had almost completely disappeared. "I guess I don't know my own strength."

"I should grab you and pull you down into the dirt with me. I bet you wouldn't think it's funny then." Draco said, rubbing the dirt off his hands.

Hermione suddenly got very serious, looking Draco straight in the eye. "You wouldn't dare." Draco stopped rubbing his hands together when he realized the seriousness in Hermione's voice. He looked up at her with a smirk and watched as she slowly started to back away from him. "Don't you dare, Malfoy." She warned, watching as his smirk grew and he slowly started to rise up from the ground. "This is a brand new dress and if you ruin it I'm going to ruin you."

Draco laughed. "Come on, Granger." He said, approaching her as she backed up from him. "A little dirt never hurt anybody."

"I'm not kidding Malfoy. Stay-." She stopped mid sentence, a scream coming from her mouth as she sprinted away from the blonde who had suddenly started chasing after her. They ran around the garden, both laughing as Draco continued to chase Hermione. Wanting to lose Draco, she quickly hung right and ran straight into a flower bush, crawling on her knees until she came out the other side.

Staying low to the ground, she kept her ears in the air and listened as she heard Draco's footsteps run straight past her hiding spot. She smiled in victory, quickly taking a look around for a permanent place to hide. It didn't take her long to see the huge willow tree sitting by a lake only a few feet away. With a smile, she quickly made her way over towards the tree, pushing her way past the hanging branches and pressing her back against the trunk. She stayed there, catching her breath and keeping an eye out for Draco, when all the sudden, she heard somebody speak behind her. "Hello Granger."

Hermione didn't have time to escape or react before she felt arms come in contact with her and tackle her to the ground. Hermione landed on top of Draco, both her hands resting on his chest while Draco placed his on the small of her back. They looked at each other, both still laughing and completely oblivious to the way they had landed on each other. After their laughter had died down did they finally realize the embrace they were in.

They just stared at each other, neither moving nor making a sound. Brown eyes locked with silver and it seemed like they were trying to read each other's minds. Draco couldn't help but think that now would have been the perfect time to lift his head up and press his lips to hers. He couldn't even help to think that she wouldn't mind, especially since she hadn't jumped off of him the second she realized how close she was. "You look tired, Granger. What do you say I take you home?"

Hermione nodded, pushing herself off Draco and standing up, patting all the dirt from her dress. Draco stood up as well, watching her as she removed the dirt then holding out his hand for her to take. She smiled at him and allowed Draco to lead her out towards the front gate of the Zabini Manor.

Even though Draco had wanted nothing more than to kiss her and his mind was telling him that that was the opportune moment and now it was gone forever, he couldn't help but think that he hadn't made a mistake. He didn't know if it was the sudden butterflies in his stomach or the fact that his heart was telling him no, but he did know one thing for sure. He knew that the plan he told Blaise about might not go exactly as planned. Because that plan was thought up by his mind… and at that very moment, Draco made up another plan to follow his heart.

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_This chapter wasn't as long as the last one, but hey, you guys still got two chapters in one day and that has to count for something... right?_

_Please remember to review! For some reason, I can't seem to break the 15 mark and that would be amazing if i could get at least 20... please :D_


	12. Give Them Something to Talk About

_Hello everyone!_

_Sorry for the long delay on getting this chapter typed up. I ended up writing half the chapter on my laptop which then suddenly broke on me, so I had to order a new part and wait for that to come in before I could put the two halfs together. But, never the less, here it is!_

_Also, just one more important thing that I wanted to point out. Some people have asked me already, and I have personally responded to them, but I just wanted to put this out there so that'll way everybody knows. _

_The idea for this story came from the movie The Holiday. Even though some of the things that happen in my story are different then what happens in that movie, i still wanted to give credit to the original, especially since it inspired this story that you all seem to love. _

_Thanks to those who reviewed last chapter:  
_StarMimi_: i'm SO happy you love it :)  
_mjmusiclover_: thanks for the compliment! it meant so much to me!  
_Irmorena_: Im glad you liked them.  
_A Secret Dreamer_: thanks for the compliment and im happy you like the story  
_erica_: thank you!  
_dracomalfoyswifey_: im glad you like the flirting because its really fun to write and i intend to do much much more :)  
_padfootsgrl79_: im happy you enjoyed them!  
_HarryPGinnyW4eva_: glad you got to read them and liked them :)  
_Giloen_: i happy you lvoe my story ;)  
_soccersyd_: happy you enjoyed it  
_OrangeJuice7_: super happy you're liking it  
_straightlyconfused_: thanks for the long review and everything that i wanted to say to you was said already. I really did appreciate everything you said and i took it all into account.  
_daniela1417_: lol i like the think that this is how they would act in real life if they weren't fictional characters as well.  
_Slytherinchica08_: i think you'll enjoy that part. but we still have a while to go before that  
_silvereyedwolf_: i love the way you're thinking and it's pretty much right where i am. some of the things you said are true and will happen, but you'll just have to wait and see what they are and how they play out :)  
_kydarkangel2007_: sorry for the wait  
_viperblanc_: dont' worry, i'm not giving up on this story :). i love all your suggestions and i'm taking them into account. if i use any, i'll be sure to give you credit by donating a chapter so thanks!  
_90sgurl_: happy you liked it._

* * *

_Last Chapter: Hermione nodded, pushing herself off Draco and standing up, patting all the dirt from her dress. Draco stood up as well, watching her as she removed the dirt then holding out his hand for her to take. She smiled at him and allowed Draco to lead her out towards the front gate of the Zabini Manor._

_Even though Draco had wanted nothing more than to kiss her and his mind was telling him that that was the opportune moment and now it was gone forever, he couldn't help but think that he hadn't made a mistake. He didn't know if it was the sudden butterflies in his stomach or the fact that his heart was telling him no, but he did know one thing for sure. He knew that the plan he told Blaise about might not go exactly as planned. Because that plan was thought up by his mind… and at that very moment, Draco made up another plan to follow his heart._

* * *

Twelve

April 13th  
Day Six

"I honestly don't know what you were thinking, Draco." Draco sighed as he crossed his right leg over his left, absentmindedly running his finger over the crease his pants made. "What were you thinking!? Taking a mudblood to a party full-"

"Don't call her that." Draco snapped at his mother, finally making eye contact with her. They looked back at each other for a few seconds, Narcissa with a look of complete shock on her face at Draco's sudden defense towards Hermione. "After everything she's done she doesn't deserve to be called any names." Draco said, looking away from his mother again, as he went back to fingering the crease in his pants.

He heard his mother sigh and just knew a lecture was coming. This was going to be a hard one to get out of. "It's not that I don't like the sudden kindness that seemed to come over night with you, I just don't understand where it came from. Since when do you defend that Granger girl and since when are you taking her to parties as your date?!"

"Mother-"

"Did you not realize that with the amount of people there that somebody within The Daily Prophet would get a hold of this?" Narcissa held up that mornings Daily Prophet and pointed towards the front page. There was a picture of when Draco had punched Nott, sending him to the ground, and then another below it with Draco grabbing Hermione's hand and leading her out towards the garden. He couldn't help the small grin that spread across his face as he watched himself land a perfect punch on Nott's face over and over again. "Do you think this is funny!?" Narcissa was suddenly yelling.

"Actually-"

"Because it's not, Draco! Do you have any idea what your father will have to say when he realizes what is going on here?" She suddenly looked fearful for her only child. "You're lucky I got the morning paper before he could and hid it. However, I happen to know that your father gets another copy sent to his office at work and it shouldn't be that much longer before he comes storming in here demanding answers."

"Is that why you wanted me to come here so badly?" Draco asked, suddenly angry. "To get a bloody lecture from dad!?"

Narcissa opened her mouth to respond, but a sudden yell came from another part of the house that made her stop. "NARCISSA!" Draco and Narcissa both froze, staring at the door and waiting for it to burst open any second. "Narcissa, where are you!?"

"I-In the library!" She yelled towards the door, slowly walking closer to Draco as Lucius could be heard approaching the door. It wasn't ten seconds later before the door was open and Lucius was storming inside, his eyes locked on Draco.

"Hello father." Draco said calmly, ignoring the warning look his mother was giving him. "What are you doing home? I thought you were supposed to be at work?"

"Don't give me that." Lucius snapped. "Don't pretend like you don't know why I'm here." Lucius turned to Narcissa. "Did you really think that hiding The Prophet from me this morning would prevent me from finding out?"

"Leave mum alone!" Draco yelled, coming to his mother's defense despite the fact that she was really against him. "She has nothing to do with this."

"Yes she does." Lucius said through his teeth. "We all do! You brought us into this by becoming involved with that mudbl-"

"Don't call her that!" Draco yelled for the second time that morning, cutting his father off.

Lucius stared back at his son, his mouth open in shock. "I can't believe this." He said under his breath, running a hand through his hair and turning his back on his family to approach the other side of the room. "My own son, a _Malfoy_, a muggle lover."

Draco rolled his eyes. "Will you stop being so fucking dramatic…."

Lucius turned to face Draco. "I'm not being dramatic, son." His voice was strangely calm now. "We're purebloods, one of the most popular in the entire wizarding world. We're _not_ supposed to date muggleborns!"

"Well then I guess it's a good thing I'm not dating her then, isn't it?"

Lucius and Narcissa suddenly looked relieved as they watched Draco sit back down in the chair he previously occupied. "You're not?" Narcissa asked, breaking the sudden silence.

"No." Draco admitted with a sigh before looking back over at his father. "And just in case you forgot, we're not popular for the right reasons. We might have avoided prison thanks to mum saving Potter at the last second, but everybody still knows that we were Deatheaters. Even if we wanted to hide it we couldn't." Draco glanced down at his father's left arm as he spoke.

"Don't try and change the subject. I didn't leave work to discuss our involvement in the war."

"No, you left work to come and yell at me for befriending a muggleborn before you even knew my reasoning behind it."

"You have a reason?" Narcissa asked.

"Of course I do. Did you honestly think I would just go and befriend one of Potter's best friends for the hell of it?"

"Well… then what is it?" Draco stood up from his chair and crossed the room, walking over towards the window that looked out into the garden. He stared out the window and ran his hand over the shades as he thought of the best way to start explaining this to his parents. "Draco…?"

He sighed, and then started to speak with his gaze still out the window. "We're good people." He started. "We really are. We just made a mistake by joining Voldemorts side in the war, and now everybody sees us as bad people who want nothing more than to see muggleborns leave the wizarding world." He finally turned to face his parents. "I realized this right after the war ended and it pissed me off that we would always be thought of this way. Nobody would give us a chance to show them who were really were without our Deatheater mask on."

"Son-."

"Let me finish." He put his hand up to show his parents how serious he really was. "I started to think. I wanted to come up with an idea, a plan, so that'll way people would give us a chance to prove ourselves. Then one day… it was just there." Draco snapped his fingers together. "It was staring me in the face and if I didn't take it then it would have been a lost cause. If I didn't take it… it might have never showed again. I had no choice" He paused. "I never expected it to happen, especially not her. But she was there, and I knew what I had to do."

"What are you doing, son?" Narcissa asked calmly. "Why are you getting involved with this girl?"

"Because I have to, mum. If there's one thing I _have_ to do, it's to restore our family name."

"How?" Lucius asked.

"She's Hermione Granger. She's the brightest witch of her age, probably the brightest of England, and she's one of Potter's best friends. She helped him to destroy Voldemort _and_ she's a muggleborn. All I have to do is make her fall for me and everything goes back to how it should be."

Lucius and Narcissa shared a glance before turning back to Draco, both with shocked looks on their faces. "'Fall for you'?" Lucius asked. "Look, son, I'll give it to you, it's an ingenious plan, but it could be dangerous."

"Yeah." Narcissa chimed in. "There's no safe zones here. All you're doing is running into this and hoping for the best. What if… something happens?"

Draco knew exactly where his parents were going with this. He could tell by the looks of their faces that although they liked the idea of their family name being cleared, they didn't like the thought of Draco ending up falling for Hermione while he tried to get her to fall for him. "Do you really think I'm going to fall for her?" Draco asked with a roll of his eyes while Lucius and Narcissa said nothing. "We've hated each other since we were first years. We're not about to suddenly get feelings for each other after seven years of name calling and glares from the other side of the room. Things like that don't just happen."

"Well something must have happened." Narcissa exclaimed, turning to look at Lucius for help. "If she was willing to go to this party with you then something must have changed her mind about you."

"Who cares if something did?" Draco said with annoyance. "All that matters is that she's at least dealing with me and for right now, everything is going according to plan."

"But-" Narcissa started, but Lucius was quick to cut her off.

"No Cissy." He said calmly, placing his hand on Narcissa's shoulder to let her know he didn't mean any disrespect by cutting her off, then turned back to Draco. "I don't like this, especially since she's a mudb-… a muggleborn, but I'm stepping back for now."

"Thank Merlin." Draco said under his breath.

"I'm not going to stop watching, though." Lucius said with warning in his voice. "Just because I'm stepping back doesn't mean I'm not going to be keeping an eye on the situation. I have my ways of watching you, and you know it." Draco rolled his eyes. "If I even _suspect_ that you are falling for the girl… I will step in."

Draco couldn't help but laugh slightly at his father's compliment. "Even when I'm trying to help _you_, you have to get involved." He said under his breath.

"Don't get smart with me Draco."

"You can't stay off my back for even a second!" Draco yelled. "You can't trust me with anything!"

"Draco-."

"No! I know what I'm doing and I'm a lot smarter then you give me credit for!"

"Son-" Narcissa said, approaching Draco to try and calm him down.

"Ever since I failed to kill Dumbledore he doesn't trust me with anything!" Draco backed up from his mother and pointed at his father. "And I'm tired of it!"

"Draco, stop this." Narcissa pleaded.

"_He's_ the one who messed up more than any of us, _he's_ the one who got us involved in all this mess, and_ he's_ the reason I have to try and befriend Granger… and _I'm_ the one getting the lecture here!?"

"That is enough!" Lucius yelled back.

"You're right…. It is." Draco said through his teeth as he started to approach the door, not listening to his mothers please to remain and talk about the situation.

"If you walk out of here-."

"I'm late for work thanks to you." Draco snapped without turning back to face his parents. "When it comes to Hermione and me, mind your own business." He knew saying her first name would get on their nerves, but he was beyond caring. "I can take care of myself. I don't need you two getting involved and ruining everything." And with that… he slammed the door on his parents.

* * *

Draco pushed open the office door slowly and then stepped inside. He looked over at the desk to see Hermione standing behind it, a clipboard resting on her arm and a quill in her hand as she quickly scribbled something down. She was so busy concentrating on her task at hand; she didn't even see Draco enter the room yet. Draco took one quick look at the desk and spotted the newspaper article sitting open on the top. When he returned his gaze to Hermione, she had just noticed him. "Oh, hello." Draco said with a smile. Hermione, however, didn't smile back. "I see you've seen the article."

"Of course I have." Hermione said as she turned back to what she was previously doing. "Who hasn't seen the article? I've had to hide up here all day just to escape reporters trying to get the scoop on what happened last night and what is going on between the two of us."

"Yeah, I know what you mean." Draco said as he shuffled his feet and looked around the room.

Hermione stopped what she was doing and looked at Draco with concern. It was obvious something happened, and she would put her money on it that it had to do with his parents. "What happened, Malfoy?"

"Nothing." Draco said, forcing a smile.

"Your parents saw the article too… didn't they?" Draco's smile fell when Hermione's words left her mouth, but he said nothing. "I'm sorry Malfoy."

"What are you apologizing for?" He asked.

"I can only imagine what they must have said when they found out that you were becoming friends with a mud-… with someone like me."

Draco watched her face fall as she spoke softly and sadly. "Hey…." Draco said in a friendly voice as he walked towards her. When he was directly in front of her, he put his hand under her chin and lifted it so she was looking right at him. "I don't give a shit about what my parents say, and they know I don't."

"Really?" Hermione asked with a small smile.

"Yeah. I've already told them to back off and mind their own business." Draco said as he reluctantly dropped his hand from her chin.

"Will they actually listen?" Hermione asked. Draco just shrugged, taking a couple steps back from Hermione and glancing down at The Daily Prophet sitting on the desk. Hermione, who didn't want to push Draco into telling her what had happened, ignored his sudden silence and sat back down at the desk, quickly starting to finish what she had started. "You're here pretty early today." Hermione pointed out as she just realized the time. "You usually don't come until around three."

"Yeah. It's been a rough day at The Ministry. I needed a new break so I figured I'd come here and ask you if you wanted to go get a bite to eat." Hermione looked up from her papers. "But I can imagine you wouldn't want to seeing as the public is out to get the both of us. Going to lunch together would probably be suicide."

Hermione laughed. "No, you know what, I'll go get some lunch."

"Really?"

"Yeah. I've been coped up in this office since seven this morning and I could really use something to eat. Besides, what kind of Gryffindor would I be if I didn't have the courage to walk out that door and face and reporters?" Draco smirked, keeping the insult he had inside his head as not to get on Hermione's bad side. Hermione, however, had noticed his smirk. "And wipe that stupid smirk off your face, Malfoy." She said as she grabbed her cardigan and threw it over her shoulders.

"Sorry." Draco apologized with a laugh. "You know… we could probably apparate to The Leaky Cauldron. At least we could escape _some_ of the reporters." He said as he followed Hermione out of the office and down the stairs.

"No." She said with a smirk worthy of a Malfoy. "Let's give them something to talk about in tomorrow's paper."

"You know Granger, I don't know why we didn't become friends sooner."

* * *

Filling out paper work was never something he enjoyed doing, especially when his partner was running two hours late for work. However, if the paper work wasn't done by the time the head auror went to lunch at twelve, he would lose his job in a second, even if he was a war hero.

Ron sighed as he signed the bottom of the paper with his messy scrawl, putting it in a separate pile for whenever decided to finally show up for work. As he grabbed the paper work on the case they had just closed last night, the door opened, and his partner finally stumbled in.

"There you are!" Ron exclaimed, pointing his quill at his partner. "The-Boy-Who-Was-Late finally decided to show his face at work."

Harry smiled, laughing slightly at Ron's attempt at a joke. "Sorry mate. I had a late night."

"Why? We finished all our work early yesterday and we were going to do the paper work this morning."

"I-uh- took Ginny out to dinner last night." Harry said, taking a seat at his desk. "We talked about some stuff, you know, with our relationship."

"Bloody hell Harry. You didn't pop the question, did you?"

"No!" Harry answered quickly. "I asked her to move in with me."

Ron just stared back at Harry for a few seconds before commenting. "We live together." He said slowly, almost like he was talking to a child. "I don't really want to be sharing a flat with you and my sister… no offense."

Harry laughed nervously. "I know… that's why I'm moving out as well. Me and Ginny are going to go and get our own place."

"You're going to leave me along already!?" Ron cried. "We just moved in!"

"I know." Harry sighed. "But, come on mate. You should be happy for me." Ron groaned inwardly. "I love Ginny, you know that, and she loves me. We're just taking our relationship to the next level. And besides, you'll have your own flat now for when Hermione comes home."

Ron turned red at the mention of Hermione's name. "Alright, fine." Ron said with a roll of his eyes. "This is happening really fast between you and Ginny."

"I know." Harry said, not able to hide his smile. "I won't hurt her Ron." He said quietly.

"I know you won't." Ron answered back just as quietly. "Speaking of Hermione, did you see that article Skeeter put out this morning?"

"Yeah, and don't believe a word of it Ron. It's complete and utter crap." Harry said, blowing it off with a wave of his hand. "Hermione would never go to a pureblood party, let alone with Malfoy of all people. And besides, she's in Australia still."

"That girl in the picture did look an awful lot like her though."

"Yeah." Harry said under his breath. "But come on, this is Rita Skeeter we're talking about here. She'll lie about anything, just as long as it puts a few galleons in her back pocket." Ron laughed at how right Harry was. "And besides, Hermione would tell us if she was home."

Ron smiled at Harry. "Yeah, I guess you're right." After a couple seconds more, Ron turned back to his paper work. "Come on Harry, let's get this done so we can go get some lunch. I'm starving."

"That's a surprise." Harry murmured under his breath, dodging a paper ball from Ron a few seconds later.

* * *

Draco couldn't help but smile at Hermione as she laughed at his joke he made about their former classmates. He never realized that he could like the way a laugh sounds coming from a person, but he liked Hermione's, and that's what really put the smile on his face. "You're terrible Malfoy." She said when she finally stopped laughing, a smile still on her face.

"Don't call me terrible when you're laughing at what I said. That just makes you a hypocrite." Draco said before taking a sip of his butterbeer.

"Then I take my laugh back."

"You can't take back a laugh." Draco said as Hermione continued to smile at him. "Besides, why would you want to take back something that makes you look so beautiful." Hermione's smile fell slightly at the confusion of Draco's compliment, and Draco was looking like he regretted not thinking before he spoke. Hermione opened her mouth to say something, but then-

"Hermione?!"

Hermione and Draco both turned their heads towards the voice to see none other than Harry and Ron staring at them, eyes wide and mouths opened slightly with shock.

"Harry! Ron!" Hermione yelled, jumping up from her chair and embracing her best friends in a tight hug.

"Hermione… what are you doing home?" Harry asked when they released the hug.

"And with him?" Ron added, glaring at Draco.

Hermione smiled somewhat nervously at her best friends. "I'm home for a few days… for work, then I have to go back to Australia."

"'Go back'?" Ron repeated, finally taking his eyes off Draco.

"Why did you tell Malfoy you were back and not us?" Harry pressed.

"Look, it's a really long story. Maybe you two should sit down, have lunch with us." Hermione said as she gestured towards her and Draco's table.

"Why are you even having lunch with him in the first place!?"

"Ron, please, you're making a scene." Hermione pleaded.

"Good!"

"Just sit Weasel." Draco snapped, finally speaking for the first time since Harry and Ron had spotted them. "We don't need Skeeter writing another article, this time with you two involved."

"You mean that article was true?" Ron asked with a groan.

"Well… yes." Hermione answered truthfully.

"Merlin's socks." Harry said, finally falling into one of the chairs at the table, Ron following suit with another groan. "I can't believe you came home and didn't tell us."

"I'm sorry Harry, I really am." Hermione said sadly. "I just knew I wouldn't be staying and I didn't want to, you know, get your hopes up."

"Get our hopes up?" Ron asked. "Hermione, we haven't seen you in months. The least you could have done was say hello."

"You're right… I should have, but I have my reasons."

"What are they?" Ron snapped. "And you better have a reason for sitting her with this lousy excuse for a wizard." Ron glared at Draco when he spoke.

"You're one to talk." Draco snapped back under his breath.

"Can the both of you stop insulting each other…?" She asked with a sigh. "I can explain everything if you promise to stop shooting daggers at me and Draco with your eyes, or interrupt me."

"Fine." Ron said as Harry nodded.

"I work as a reporter over in Australia and they sent me here to get the scoop on a new clothing store that opened up. When I came over here, it turned out to be Pansy Parkinson's shop. We talked and after talking, we both came to the conclusion that we each needed a vacation. We decided to go cheap and easy, so we switched places. Pansy went to Australia to take care of Crookshanks while I'm gone, and I'm helping to run Pansy's shop with She's gone."

"Where does Malfoy come in at?" Harry asked.

"I help manage the store." Draco answered.

"And now you two are what… best friends all the sudden?" Ron asked sarcastically.

"Don't be like that Ron."

"Like what?"

"Jealous." Hermione answered immediately, looking at Draco for a few seconds, only to see him staring back at her curiously, before turning back to Ron.

"I'm not jealous. I just don't understand why you chose to befriend him, the bouncing ferret."

"Draco's been very sweet and nice to me." Hermione said with a smile. "People can change Ron."

"This is ridicules." Ron said under his breath.

"Look, let's forget it… okay?" Harry said turning to Hermione. "You're home, even if it's for a little while, and we shouldn't argue. " Hermione smiled a thank-you at Harry. "We should be happy you're here and spend all the time we can together."

"That sounds great." Hermione said.

The four finished eating lunch together, not many words being shared on Draco's part, and mostly glared being sent back and forth between Harry, Ron, and Draco when Hermione wasn't looking. When it was time for Hermione and Draco to leave, Hermione went to hug her best friends goodbye as Draco waiting for her outside.

As she hugged Ron, Ron pulled her to the side. "Mum's having some people over for dinner at The Burrow tonight. No special reason, just the usual Thursday night get together my mum has now that everybody has moved out. It would be great if you could come."

Hermione smiled at Ron. "Of course I'll come. And tell your mum I'll make a cake."

"Great." Ron said, giving Hermione one last huge before she walked out the front door to meet Draco before they started making their way back towards The Purple Pansy.

As they walked, Draco turned to Hermione. "So, since our lunch was interrupted, I was wondering if maybe you wanted to go to dinner tonight."

"Oh… I'm sorry Malfoy, I can't."

"You can't?"

"No. Ron just invited me to The Burrow for dinner tonight."

"Oh…." Draco said, sounding disappointed. "Well, did you maybe want to go for some coffee or tea before you go to dinner?"

Hermione smiled apologetically at Draco. "I told Ron I would make a cake."

"Oh…." Draco said again, this time sounding even more disappointed.

Hermione, however, had an idea. "Why don't you come?"

"What?"

Hermione laughed slightly. "Come with me and having dinner at The Burrow."

Draco laughed this time. "You can't be serious? You want me to go with you to the Weasley's house… and have dinner?" Hermione nodded. "That's like enemy territory."

"Oh, right, and last night I was surrounded by my friends and family when we went to Zabini's party." Hermione said sarcastically, nudging Draco to show her sarcasm. "Come on… it'll be fun." Draco looked unsurely at Hermione. "You can even come and help me make the cake tonight, and then from there we'll go straight to The Burrow."

"Help you… bake?"

"Yeah. Come on, please?"

Draco stared back into Hermione's smiling face, and although he didn't want to, nodded his head anyway. The last thing he ever wanted to do was go to the Weasley's for dinner, but at least he would be with Hermione, and he could only pry something good would come from this night.


	13. Weasley or No Weasley

_Hello everybody!  
First off, sorry for the huge delay on getting this chapter up. I was finally able to get the virus off my computer and back to my writing :D. Thanks to ecjmommy for the good luck on getting it fixed!  
I hope you'll all like this chapter. It's close to 7,000 words, hopefully making up for my lack of updating over the past month. It's also one of my faves in this story and theres TONS of drama. So let me know what you thought!_

_Thanks to those who reviewed last chapter:  
Avanell: I'm really happy you liked it!  
MySweetEscape: Pretty sure I already answered your question though a PM. If not, let me know and I'll be sure to answer it/  
Sophia: Thanks for your review. Judging by the review... i think you'll like this chapter :D  
Irmorena: Yes, the magic of love is great... isnt it?  
mentarisenja: I'm happy you like it. and i like the idea of not making it so cliche, which i dont plan on doing, but if you have any suggestions, dont hesitate to throw them my way  
OrangeJuice7: I think you'll like the cake part. Its my fave :D  
padfootsgrl79: oh, it is, trust me  
daniela1417: lol, you'll just have to wait and see ;)  
soccersyd: happy you like it  
A Secret Dreamer: There will be plenty more of Ron and Harry dont worry  
dracomalfoyswifey: I hope you like it!  
everytimeyoulookatme: i'm really happy you like my plot  
irridecent dreams: thanks!  
tfobmv18: great to hear that!_

_

* * *

_

Last Chapter: Hermione laughed slightly. "Come with me and having dinner at The Burrow."

_Draco laughed this time. "You can't be serious? You want me to go with you to the Weasley's house… and have dinner?" Hermione nodded. "That's like enemy territory."_

_"Oh, right, and last night I was surrounded by my friends and family when we went to Zabini's party." Hermione said sarcastically, nudging Draco to show her sarcasm. "Come on… it'll be fun." Draco looked unsurely at Hermione. "You can even come and help me make the cake tonight, and then from there we'll go straight to The Burrow."_

_"Help you… bake?"_

_"Yeah. Come on, please?"_

_Draco stared back into Hermione's smiling face, and although he didn't want to, nodded his head anyway. The last thing he ever wanted to do was go to the Weasley's for dinner, but at least he would be with Hermione, and he could only pry something good would come from this night._

* * *

Thirteen

April 13th  
Day Six

Draco sighed as he walked up the sidewalk that led to Pansy's flat, where Hermione was staying. In a couple hours he would be dead center in what he considered enemy territory. The Weasley's home, or as everybody else called it, The Burrow, wasn't exactly where he wanted to spend the rest of his night. Merlin only knew what would happen if his parents found out he had dinner with the Weasley's, let alone went because Hermione invited him.

He knocked on the front door, his mind set on the next hour him and Hermione would spend making a cake. He hoped it would be good enough to make up for the night ahead.

The door flung open, and standing in front of him with a cooking apron tired around her waist was Hermione. She smiled at him, but as she got a better look, her smile fell. "Hello." She said as she examined his clothes.

"Uh… hi." Draco raised an eyebrow as he watched Hermione look him up and down. "Is something wrong with my outfit? I never really pictured the Weasleys as the type of people to have a dress code for dinner."

Hermione laughed slightly. "No Malfoy, look you fine, it's not that. You just…-."

"What?" Draco pressed.

Hermione sighed. "Haven't you ever baked before?"

Draco laughed. "No. I wasn't even allowed to go in the kitchen. The house elves did all the cooking and baking." Hermione frowned even more at this statement. "Why?"

"Well… you can't bake in that." She said as she pointed at his clothes. "If you're not careful, they could get ruined."

Draco smiled at Hermione. "I think I'll be okay, but thanks for the concern."

Hermione rolled her eyes and smiled. "Just come on." She said as she started to walk back in the house. Draco followed her inside and then right into the kitchen where he saw that Hermione had already started.

"Thanks for waiting for me." Draco said sarcastically.

"Oh, shut it." Hermione responded as she continued to bake. "Stop complaining and get me the flour."

Draco turned his head from side to side, looking around for the flour, and then smiling to himself when he spotted a vase of flowers sitting on the table. Reaching over with his hand, he picked a daisy from the vase and held it out for Hermione, who now had her back to Draco, to take. "This flower?" Hermione turned to face Draco and when she saw what he was holding out in front of him, she burst out laughing. "What's so funny?" Draco asked offend as he watched Hermione laugh at him. "You asked for the flower…."

"Not that kind of flower Malfoy." Hermione said in-between laughs as she approached Draco and took the flower from his hand, placing it back in the vase. "We can't cook with that."

"Well what the hell Granger? I just told you I've never baked before and now you expect me to know what flour is?"

As her laughter died down, Hermione reached behind her and grabbed the spoon she was using to mix the batter, and then handed it to Draco. "I'll get the flour then." She said with a smile. "Just mix the batter. You do know what batter is, don't you?"

Draco snatched the spoon from Hermione's hand. "Of course I know what batter is." Hermione let out another laugh before retreating to the other side of the kitchen and retrieving the flour from the cabinet along with everything else they would need. After placing everything down on the table, she walked over to the fridge and grabbed some eggs, then walked back over to Draco. "So, are Weasley and Potter _thrilled_ that I'm attending dinner tonight?" Draco asked sarcastically when he spotted Hermione next to him.

"I don't know." Hermione answered honestly as she started to mix the flour with the rest of the ingredients.

"You don't know…?"

"Well… I didn't exactly tell them that you were coming." Hermione glanced up at Draco nervously when she noticed he had stopped mixing the batter to look at her. "Don't worry though, they'll be fine."

"Are you sure about that? This is Potter and Weasley we're talking about."

"They might not be okay with it at first, but they'll get over it. I like to think that the three of you could one day be friends." Draco laughed out loud at this. "Why is that funny?"

"Asking me, Potter, and Weasley to befriend each other is like asking Voldemort and my Auntie Bellatrix to come back from the dead and go on holiday with the muggle prime minister." Draco said as he started mixing again. "It just isn't going to happen."

"It might." Hermione said as she smiled at Draco's comparison and how accurate it really was. "Harry and Ron usually agree with whatever I say. So since I like you, they most likely will give you a chance."

Draco stopped mixing again, his heart racing with the hope that when Hermione said that she liked him, she meant it as more than just a friend. "…You like me?" He asked with a smirk.

"Well… of course I do." Hermione said, her cheeks turning slightly pink from the hard stare Draco was sending her way. "Why else would I be making a cake with you?" She licked her lips nervously, then examined the batter that Draco had stopped mixing again. "You need to mix that quicker so we can get it in the oven and make sure it's done in time for us to go to The Burrow."

Draco couldn't help but think that Hermione had tried to change the subject rather quickly before continuing to stir what was in front of him. When he had finished, he took the flour mixture from Hermione and quickly started pouring it into his bowl, only to get scolded by Hermione. "You're pouring it to fast Malfoy." She said, taking the bowl from him."You need to put a little in at a time and then mix it all together before adding more."

Draco just laughed and crossed his arms over his chest. "You're such an egghead Granger."

"I am not an egghead Malfoy." Hermione said as she finished mixing the batter and was now pouring it into the pan.

"Yes you are." Draco said with a smirk as Hermione grabbed the cake and walked it over to the oven, placing it in and turning on the timer before walking back over to Draco. "The fact that you know how to bake a cake without the recipe just proves it."

"I like to bake." Hermione said as she crossed her arms over her chest. "Is that a crime?"

Draco laughed. "You've been an egghead for as long as I can remember. You always had your nose in a book or your concentration on a homework assignment."

"Reading and studying doesn't make me an egghead." Hermione said although she knew it wasn't true. "It just makes me smart."

"And what do they call smart people…?" Draco asked rhetorically. "Eggheads." He said as he answered his own question, crossing his arms over his chest and smirking down at Hermione.

Hermione glared up at Draco, not like being proved wrong. She sighed in defeat and placed her hand down on the counter. When she did, she felt the tips of her fingers move against one of the eggs sitting on the counter and she grinned up at Draco as an idea hatched in her head. She placed her whole palm over the egg so Draco couldn't see it. "You know, Malfoy, if anybody is the egghead here… it's you."

Draco scoffed. "Granger… please. If anybody is the egghead here, it's _you_."

Hermione smirked, quickly bringing the egg she had in her hand up to Draco's head and slammed it down over his blond locks, "Not anymore." She said as her laughter escaped her. Draco stood there, shock written all over his face, as egg yolk ran down his hair and face and onto his jacket. He was mad at first, until he saw how hard Hermione was laughing, and then he couldn't help but to smile. He had to hand it to her, it was a clever way of getting back for his name calling, but he wasn't going to just let her get away with it.

Grabbing a hand full of flour from the counter, he tossed it at Hermione, covering her hair, face, and shirt with a cloud of flour. She stopped laughing when she realized what had happened, but laughter still filled the kitchen as tears filled Draco's eyes.. "Paybacks a bitch, Granger." He said as he wiped the yolk from his eyes.

"I'll show you payback." Hermione said as she grabbed the spoon they used to bake and flicked the batter all over Draco, who only returned the favor by sending sugar into Hermione's hair. Before long, the entire kitchen was filled with their laughter as baking necessity after baking necessity was thrown in every direction. As Hermione went to grab the hose that was attached to the sink, her intention to soak Draco with the water, she felt Draco grab her hand and pull her into him, successfully stopping her from getting a hold of the hose.

They both continued to laugh, the air no longer being filled with sugar, flour, and any other baking tools as they looked at each other. It didn't take long for them to realize the close proximity they were in, but yet neither pulled away. When Draco's laughter had died down, Hermione still chuckling slightly, he daringly brought his thumb up to Hermione's cheek to slowly wipe some of the batter that was on it off. At his touch, Hermione stopped laughing instantly and they both stared deeply into each other's eyes.

Draco continued to caress her cheek with his thumb and it wasn't long before Hermione was leaning into his touch. She brought her hand up and placed it on Draco's, the same hand that was running across her cheek, before speaking. "Draco, I-" She was suddenly interrupted by the beeping of the oven, signaling that the cake was finished baking. She lowered her eyes from Draco's before licking her lips and clearing her throat. "I should probably go get that." She said quietly, pulling Draco's hand slowly off her cheek and pushing past him.

Draco sighed as she reached the oven and pulled the finished cake out, then placed it on the counter. He watched her nervously wipe her hands on her pants before speaking. "I'm going to go freshen up and get ready. I'll be down in a minute."

Draco watched her descend the stairs and when she was out of his sight he sighed in frustration and fell back into one of the kitchen chairs. Running his hand his blond hair, he tossed his head back against the back of the chair. "What the hell are you doing Draco?" He asked himself. The way his heart beat against his chest when he ran his hand over Hermione's face not only sent chills down his spine, but it also sent chills up his spine and into his brain, warning him of one thing. He had to admit it, Hermione had changed since the war, that was for sure, and it was for the better.

That was the reason he didn't mind his plan to coax Granger into helping him get his family name to mean something good again. However, he never intended to actually get feelings for her in return. Sure, he knew he was going to fake feelings, he had to if he wanted to get Hermione to like him back, but he never expected them to actually become true feelings. It was just like when he decided to follow his heart. He wanted to prove to Hermione that he really was a good person, which was why he made the decision to follow it, but he never really did expect his heart to take a sudden leap towards the person he used to hate almost as much as he did Potter.

And now, with his heart standing next to Hermione with open arms, he wasn't so sure he'd be able to get it to come back to him.

Hearing movement above him, he decided that he should probably freshen up as well before Hermione came back down. Pulling his wand out of his back pocket, he brought the tip down to his clothing and muttered a cleaning spell under his breath. The remaining stains on his clothing disappeared instantly, leaving Draco to check over his clothes one more time to see if he missed any.

After he finished his inspection, he glanced up to see Hermione enter back into the room. She looked at him and smiled as she walked over to the cake, whipping out her wand and charming a butter knife to spread icing onto the cake.

They both sat in an awkward silence, Hermione watching as the charmed knife iced her cake. When it was just about done being iced, Draco finally spoke up. "Granger-"

"We should probably get going." Hermione said, successfully cutting him off.

"I'm sorry Granger." Draco said like she hadn't even interrupted him. "I didn't mean to take things that far and make everything all awkward between the two of us."

Hermione smiled at Draco before turning to the cake as it was finished icing itself. She quickly wrapped it up and holding it in her arms, approached Draco. "You didn't make anything awkward Malfoy." Hermione said when she was in front of him. "Let's just forget about it, okay?" Draco nodded his head and smiled back slightly as Hermione forced the cake into Draco's hands. "I'm going to have you carry this into The Burrow."

"Why?" Draco asked curiously.

"Harry and Ron aren't going to be the only ones there who will be hostile towards you." Hermione said with a smile. "Think of this as a sort of… peace treaty between the Malfoys and the Weasleys."

Draco sighed as Hermione through her light cardigan over her shoulder. "Father's not going to like this." He said under his breath so Hermione couldn't hear him.

"Are you ready?" Hermione asked as she looked back at Draco and headed for the door. Draco sighed nervously and slowly approached Hermione, who was now smiling at him kindly. "You look nervous." She pointed out.

"That's probably because I am, Granger." Draco snapped accidently, causing the smile to fade from Hermione's face. "I'm sorry." He apologized quickly. "It's like walking into enemy territory."

"Except I'll be at your side the whole time." Hermione pointed out. "It's no different then what I had to do last night at Zabini's Manor, only this time you won't have to face hundreds of people… only about ten or fifteen."

"Okay." Draco said forcing a smile. "Let's just go before I change my mind." Hermione smiled triumphantly before grabbing onto Draco's upper arm and apparating them to The Burrow.

They landed in the field outside, a couple hundred feet from The Burrows entrance. Hermione turned to give Draco a reassuring smile before heading off towards the front door, Draco following along behind her at a quick pace. "Well here we are." Hermione said under her breath before knocking on the door. Draco had the idea then she wasn't just talking to him, but to herself as well. Coming back to face everybody had to be hard, especially since she was going to be leaving again in a weeks time.

The door opened suddenly and standing before them was a plump woman with the trademark Weasley red hair. She smiled when she saw Hermione and wrapped her arms around her in a tight embrace. "Oh, Hermione!" She cried as she squeezed her.

"Hello Mrs. Weasley." Hermione said through the struggle of Molly's grip.

"It's so great to see that you're home." Molly said when she released the grip she had on Hermione, now both of her hands on Hermione's shoulder as she smiled down at her. "Ron told me that you would be coming tonight. I couldn't be happier."

"Well I couldn't be more happy to be here." Hermione said before turning her head to face Draco, who was now nervously looking around at the Weasley's front yard, his head tilted slightly to get a look at the backyard. "Mrs. Weasley, I hope you don't mind that I brought a friend with me tonight."

Draco turned back when he heard Hermione speak and smiled nervously at Mrs. Weasley. "Draco Malfoy, Ma'am." Draco said, placing the cake under one arm so he could extend the other in a hand shake.

"Hello my dear." Mrs. Weasley's said brightly. "Lucius Malfoy's son, correct?" She asked as she pushed Draco's hand aside and gave him the same hug that she previously gave Hermione.

"Oh, uh… yes." Draco replied as Mrs. Weasley squeezed him. Draco looked over at Hermione, who laughed slightly at the look of shock on Draco's face. When Mrs. Weasley released her grip on Draco, she gave him a small pat on the cheek before speaking.

"Well then come on in, come on in." Mrs. Weasley said, opening the door and ushering them both inside. "Harry and Ron are in the sitting room with Author if you wish to join them. And here, dear, I'll take what you have under your arm." Mrs. Weasley said to Draco, holding out her hands for Draco to pass her the cake. "Dinner should be ready in half an hour, so I'll let you know when it's time to freshen up." Mrs. Weasley finished as she headed for the kitchen with the cake in her hand.

"Wow." Draco said when Mrs. Weasley was out of ear shot. "I must say, I never expected that much of a warm welcome."

Hermione laughed as she led them towards the sitting room. "Mrs. Weasley is too nice for her own good. Unless of course you're your Aunt Bellatrix." Hermione added.

Draco laughed at this. "My Aunt Bella had it coming to her, I think."

"That's sad, really." Hermione said quietly.

"What is?"

"That you, her nephew, believed that she deserved to die."

"This war taught me a lot about everything really. It helped me to see what I wasn't able to see before."

"And what's that?" Hermione asked in a soft voice as she stopped walking right in front of the sitting room entrance, turning to face Draco.

"There's no sides, or at least, there shouldn't be." Draco said just as softly as Hermione had. "We all might have been raised in different ways and in different worlds, but that shouldn't be what matters. We're all people. We all have the same emotions, feel the same kind of pain, and we're all living on the same planet, each person trying to figure out why they were put here in the first place."

Draco sighed. "Most of my family wasn't able to see this, and because of that, we all ended up on a side we didn't want to have anything to do with. Those who wanted nothing to do with it anymore, like me and my mum, couldn't escape even if we wanted to. And those who wanted to stay, like my Aunt Bella, only wanted to stay because they were the ones who couldn't see what was staring them in the face… the truth."

Hermione stared back at Draco, her head tilited to the side slightly as she stared at him in a new light. She opened her mouth to speak, not really sure what to say, but it didn't matter. "Malfoy… I-." As the words left her mouth, she was interrupted as the sitting room door opened and Ron came walking out.

"I'm going to go see if din-." He turned and stopped in the middle of his sentence just like Hermione had. He locked eyes with her and smiled brightly. "Hermione!" He exclaimed before gripping her in a tight embrace.

"Hello Ron." Hermione said with a smile, watching over his shoulder as Harry came running into the room as well. When Ron released her grip, she turned around to face Harry, wrapping her arms around him in a tight hug. "Oh, Harry, I miss you." Hermione said with a sigh.

"I miss you to Hermione." Harry said.

"What the hell is _he_ doing here?" Hermione released the hug with Harry and turned to face Ron, who had just yelled out at spotting Draco. "Get the hell out of my house Malfoy!" Ron yelled.

Hermione stepped in front of Draco, glaring at Ron. "I invited him Ronald." She snapped. "And this isn't just your house. It's more your mums then anybody else's, and she said Draco could join us for dinner."

"I don't care what she said! What are you doing inviting him here?"

"We had plans for tonight."

"What kind of plans?" Harry asked.

"Dinner plans." Draco said.

"Exactly." Hermione said, nodding at her two best friends. "Rather then canceling them, I decided to invite Draco here."

"Well I don't like it." Ron snapped.

"Me either." Harry chimed in. "This was supposed to be dinner for friends and family."

"Well he's my friend." Hermione defended Draco.

"Dinner!" Mrs. Weasley called from the kitchen. Draco and Hermione glared at Harry and Ron, as they did the same to them.

After a couple seconds of silence, Hermione scoffed, grabbing Draco's hand and pulling him into the kitchen. Putting a happy face on for Mrs. Weasley, she took a seat, suggesting that Draco do the same. Harry and Ron followed a few seconds later, taking two seats that sat opposite from Hermione and Draco. The stare off continued for Ron, Harry, and Draco as Hermione helped Mrs. Weasley set up the plates as the rest of the Weasley family joined them for dinner.

When everybody was settled, they all began eating. Just as Draco took a bite of his dinner, he heard someone call his name.

"So, Malfoy?" Draco looked up and his eyes met Harry's, both him and Ron still staring at him from across the table. "You work at the ministry, right?"

"That's correct." Draco said as he noticed Hermione glaring at her two best friends.

"It's just strange. I make my way around the ministry all day, and I _never_ see you." Harry said with a cocky smile.

"That's because my department is in a new section of the ministry, one not many people know about." Draco explained.

"What department?" Ron asked.

"Magical Building and Reconstruction."

"And what exactly do you do in that department?"

"I over see everything. I make sure that the buildings that need to be re-built the most are done first, and that they're done correctly."

"That sounds like something the head of the department should be doing." Hermione added as a though.

Draco smiled at her. "I _am_ the head of the department."

"Wait a second." Harry interrupted. "You're the head of The Department of Magical Building and Reconstruction?"

Draco nodded. "That's right Potter."

"But… that's impossible." Harry said, sharing a confused look with Ron. "I was told the head of the department also founded it.

"I don't' really like to bring it up, but yes, I founded it as well. I used some of my fortune to start it."

"But… why?"

"The main reason was Hogwarts. When I have children, I want them to see the world as I saw it growing up, not the world Voldemort destroyed." When Draco spoke, he looked over at Hermione to see her smiling at him proudly.

"How is Hogwarts coming along then?" Mr. Weasley asked Draco.

"Great." Draco said after he swallowed his bite of dinner. "Everything that was there before the battle of Hogwarts is as good as new and right now we're in the process of building new additions."

"New additions?" Ginny asked.

Draco nodded. "Right now our main project is the Quidditch pitch. We're making more seats so more people, mainly the ones who don't attend or teach at the school, can come and see the games as well. We even rebuilt Hagrid's hut, expanding it to give him and his boarhound more room."

"That was so nice of you Draco." Hermione said, a smile still present on her face.

"Who had that idea?" Ron asked, annoyed the way Hermione kept smiling at Draco.

"I did." Draco said seriously.

Ron laughed. "Yeah, right. You hate Hagrid. You even snitched him out in our first year for having a dragon."

"Well, off the record, I was just trying to get you lot into trouble… but I try not to live in the past, or at least not that past. I've put it all behind me and I don't' intended on looking back."

Draco glanced over at Hermione again to see her beaming at him, returning the gesture with a small smile before glancing back down at his food, finally taking another bite. The rest of dinner was finished in silence on Draco, Ron, Harry, and Hermione's part. When the table was clean and the dishes washed, everybody headed back into the sitting room.

"Hey Hermione." Ron called when he was standing directly behind Hermione. She turned and greeted him with a warm smile. "Do you mind if we go outside and talk real quick?"

"Sure." Hermione answered nervously, glancing over at Draco as Ron pulled her towards the front door. She sent him a reassuring smile and mouth 'I'll be back' when they made eye contact. Draco nodded nervously and watched Hermione disappear into the other room.

When Ron and Hermione reached the separate sitting room, Ron immediately wrapped her in a hug, catching Hermione off guard. "I missed you so much."

"I miss you to Ron." She said when he released the hug.

"When you were gone the only thing I could think of was how when you came back, we could pick up from where we started."

Hermione felt her stomach turn at Ron's words. During the war, and before it even started, she knew the kind of danger she was in. Not only because she was one of Harry's best friends, but because she was muggleborn. She woke up every morning praying that she wouldn't die, and went to bed thanking Merlin she didn't. She feared death every day, and because of that, she lived her life like each day was the last.

At first, it made sense for her and Ron to become romantically involved. They were best friends after all, and Hermione knew she had feelings for the red head, but once the war was over, she could see clearly again. The love she had for Ron was just a brotherly love, and she hoped, before she went to Australia, that Ron would eventually realize this as well.

But clearly, he hadn't.

"W-Where we stared?" Hermione asked nervously.

"Yeah, you know, before you left." Ron was oblivious to the nervous tone in her voice. "You see, me and Harry rented out a flat, but not Harry's planning on moving out to get a place with Ginny, so I figured me and you could just live together at my place once Harry leaves."

Hermione's eyes opened wide in shock. _'Move in?'_ She thought. _'He wasn't us to move in together?' _"Ron-"

"I already have everything figured out, all you have to do is say yes."

"Ron, I… can't." Ron's smile suddenly fell. "Look, I-"

"What do you mean you can't?" he asked, obviously heartbroken at her answer. "We've been best friends for eight years and dating for one."

Hermione sighed. "Ron, please don't tell me that while I was gone you still held onto the hope of our romantic relationship." Hermione said sadly. She knew it was true. He had never moved on.

"Well… yeah, didn't you?"

Hermione sighed again, shaking her head slightly. "I'm sorry Ron. The war, it… confused me. I thought I was going to die. I was confused. I-"

"This is about _him_, isn't it?" Ron pointed a finger in towards the kitchen, a look of pure anger on his face.

"Who?" Hermione asked, truthfully confused.

"Malfoy." Ron spat. "You're ending it with me to start something with Malfoy, aren't you?"

Hermione couldn't help but to laugh slightly at Ron's accusations. "No. Ron, I'm not involved in any way with Draco. We're just friends."

"Please Hermione." Ron rolled his eyes and crossed his arms over his chest. "Do I look like an idiot to you? I see the way he looks at you. His eyes are full of lust and want, and when you look at each other, both your faces just light up."

"It's-It's not like that." But Hermione wasn't so sure anymore. Now that Ron had said something, she could clearly see it. Draco had become extremely attached to her since she arrived, always trying to spend time with her and get her to go out with him. Hermione could finally see it. Was Draco Malfoy really attracted to her after all these years of torment? And was Hermione okay with it? She could honestly say she didn't think she minded. She might have even enjoyed the sudden attention she was getting from the attractive blond.

"And that's another thing." Ron said suddenly, interrupting Hermione's thoughts. "Since when do you call him 'Draco'?"

"Since we became friends!" Hermione found herself yelling.

"Does _he_ know you're just friends?"

Hermione suddenly felt anger boiling in her blood. "We're friends Ron! If you can't handle that, then it's not my problem. And if this is the way you're going to act because I told you that we're over when it comes to our relationship, then I don't know if I even want to be your friend anymore."

Hermione turned her back on Ron and ran from the room, ignoring Ron's protest. As she pushed through the door, going to run out the back door, she suddenly collided with someone. Using his arms to catch her, Draco held Hermione in his arms. They looked at each other before Hermione pushed out of Draco's grasps and ran outside. "Hermione." Draco sighed, chasing after her.

He pushed through the door and immediately spotted Hermione, leaning on a fence that out looked the swamp in the Weasley's front yard. The sun had just set, giving the sky a light, yet dark blue tint with a half moon high in the sky. "Hermione…." Draco called as he slowly approached her.

He leaned against the fence and looked over at Hermione. "Did you hear any of our conversation?" She asked without looking at Draco.

Draco sighed. "…Yeah."

"How much?" She asked, looking over at Draco.

"Enough."

She sighed, turning her attention back to the swamp. "I didn't want you to hear any of that."

"Are you okay Granger?" Draco asked, ignoring what Hermione said.

"Ron is just… he's such…-"

"An ass?" Draco suggested with a small grin.

Hermione turned to him, smiling slightly. "No." She said. "It's not his fault, you know." She chimed in before turning back to looking at the moon.

"Last time I check, you can control being an ass. Trust me… I would know."

"You're not an ass Draco." Hermione said with a smile, nudging Draco with her shoulder. "At least not anymore." Draco grinned at her comment. "And neither is Ron."

"Hermione-"

"I led him on Draco. The war… it was scary. I made some decisions, some that I'm not proud of."

"What do you mean?"

"I knew who I was, I'm no fool. I knew that every day I could die. Being a muggleborn, a well known one due to my friendship with Harry, I could easily die."

"Granger-"

"I didn't want to die without knowing that feeling of love." Hermione interrupted. "Ron was there, and I knew he loved me. My fear led me to use him and his feelings."

"You were scared." Draco said, defending Hermione against her own thoughts.

"No, I was stupid. I was selfish, and now, because of that, I lost one of my best friends." A tear trickled down Hermione's cheek.

"Hey." Draco said, grabbing a hold of Hermione's shoulder and turning her towards him. With the pad of his thumb, he wiped the tears off her face and smiled at her. "Weasley isn't going to stop being your friend because you had a fight and ended the romance that the two of you had."

"But-"

"No, listen to me." Draco interrupted seriously. "You and Weasley, along with Potter of course, have been through so much together. You snuck into the third floor corridor to stop Voldemort from rising to power, you helped to stop a basilisk from terrorizing the school, you saved an innocent man from a dementors kiss, you helped Potter educate himself enough to escape death in the Triwizard Tournament," At this point, Hermione was smiling at Draco. "You snuck into The Ministry of Magic, preventing my father from retrieving the prophecy, you helped fight off Death Eaters when they came into Hogwarts through the vanishing cabinet,"

"No thanks to you." Hermione added with a smile to let Draco know she wasn't serious.

"No thanks to me." Draco said, agreeing anyway, causing Hermione to laugh slightly. "Hell, you even managed to destroy all of Voldemort's horcruxes, freeing muggleborns from The Ministry, escaping Voldemort's giant snake, managing to get out of my manor after being captured, and even-"

"Breaking into Gringotts." Hermione finished.

Draco nodded. "You can't go through all that with a person and not be friends for the rest of your lifetimes." Draco paused. "It's just impossible."

Before Draco knew what was happening, Hermione jumped into his arms, squeezing him in a tight hug. "Thank you." She said in his ear.

Draco smiled. "What do you say I take you home. Being here probably isn't a great idea anymore." Hermione nodded in agreement. "Did you want me to go and let the Weasley's know we're leaving."

"No." Hermione said. "I'll owl Molly in the morning. She'll understand."

"Okay." Draco said, taking a hold of Hermione's hand and quickly apparating her back to Pansy's flat. They landed at the end of the walkway, and Draco kindly guided her up to her door. When they reached the front door, Hermione turned the handle and opened it, then turned back to Draco.

"Well, thank you for everything Draco. I really appreciate it."

"Don't worry about it Granger." Draco said with a smile. "So I guess I'll see you tomorrow."

"Yeah." Hermione said with a nod. "I'll see you tomorrow." And before Draco knew what was happening, Hermione took a step closer to him and landed a sweet chaste kiss on his cheek. She smiled at him, her cheeks red, before walking into Pansy's flat. "Goodnight." She said before closing the door and leaving Draco, completely shell shocked, standing outside.

When the door was completely shut, Draco allowed his hand to come up to the place where Hermione had kissed him, his heart doing leaps he didn't even know possible and the biggest smile on his face. As he apparated away, one thing was for certain. Weasley's or no Weasley's, this was one of the greatest nights of his life.

* * *

_*squeals* Things are finally starting to get good!_

_Once again, i'm sorry for the huge delay. I'm trying to desperately juggle my free time with my friends and my writing inbetween working a hectic retail schedule since I was promoted. Please dont give up hope on this story just because it takes me a while to update. _

_Please remember to review! Can't wait to see what you all thought!_


	14. Dinner with the Malfoy's

_Hello everyone!_

_I updated earlier then usual this time lol. It would have been even earlier but i was out getting my first tattoo, and of course its a harry potter tattoo :D. "all was well" with a lightning bolt at the end across my wrist. i love it! Also, I went through all the chapter again and added the dates along with the number of days that Hermione has been in London. Right now were on day 7 our of 14, right in the middle! _

_Thanks to those few who reviewed last chapter:  
ecjmommy: I'm happy you're enjoying it and thanks for the luck with the computer!  
Avanell: Happy you liked it :)  
Irmorena: Thanks! glad tohave your review  
HarryPGinnyW4eva: Im happy to hear you'll be here until the very end  
OrangeJuice7: I think you'll like this chapter  
dracomalfoyswifey: thanks for the congrats and i'm happy you're enjoying it that much  
padfootsgrl79: thanks for the congrats!  
mjmusiclover: thanks for the compliment!  
silvereyedwolf: thanks for the long review! pansy will def be coming up in the next chapter so keep an eye out! _

* * *

_Last Chapter: "Well, thank you for everything Draco. I really appreciate it."_

_"Don't worry about it Granger." Draco said with a smile. "So I guess I'll see you tomorrow."_

_"Yeah." Hermione said with a nod. "I'll see you tomorrow." And before Draco knew what was happening, Hermione took a step closer to him and landed a sweet chaste kiss on his cheek. She smiled at him, her cheeks red, before walking into Pansy's flat. "Goodnight." She said before closing the door and leaving Draco, completely shell shocked, standing outside._

_When the door was completely shut, Draco allowed his hand to come up to the place where Hermione had kissed him, his heart doing leaps he didn't even know possible and the biggest smile on his face. As he apparated away, one thing was for certain. Weasley's or no Weasley's, this was one of the greatest nights of his life._

* * *

Fourteen

April 14th  
Day Seven

Draco sighed, running his hand through his blond hair. Here he was… again, sitting in a chair in the library of Malfoy Manor. His mother sat across from him, her morning tea in her hand as she stirred it before taking a sip and then placing it down on the table next to her chair. "Draco, dear, tell me what happened." Narcissa asked in a calm voice.

Draco sighed yet again, rolling his eyes. _'Talk about your déjà vu._' If he ever got his hands on Rita Skeeter, he would strangle her for sure. "Nothing happened Mum."

"That's not what it looks like to me, or to the rest of the wizarding world who reads The Daily Prophet."

"Didn't you ask me here for tea?" Draco looked up at his mother for the first time. "Because I haven't even been offered any yet."

Narcissa stared at her son intently, not liking the way her purposely avoided her question, before yelling for her house elf. "Winky!" With a pop, a small house elf appeared at her feet. "Get my son some tea please." She said, sounding exhausted, before turning back to Draco. "Now that your tea is on the way… talk to me."

"Why?" Draco snapped. "So I can get another lecture about getting 'involved' with muggleborns?"

"Draco-"

"It's not my fault that that terrible excuse for a reporter, Rita Skeeter, can't mind her own business." He paused, trying to cool down from the sudden burst of anger and rage he was feeling towards the woman who, for some reason, was out to publicly destroy him and Hermione. "Does dad know?" Draco asked, the thought just coming to him.

Narcissa nodded. "He owled The Ministry to tell them he wouldn't be coming in."

"Yeah… so he could murder his son." Draco snapped under his breath. "So where is he now?"

"There was a small emergency at work. He had to take care of it. He should be back in a few minutes."

"Then I better drink my tea and get out. I have a meeting with the minister tomorrow that I can't show up dead for."

"Narcissa rolled her eyes at Draco's sarcasm. There was a sudden pop and Winky stood before them, Draco's tea in her hand. Draco took it, nodding a 'thank you' to the elf. "Thank you Winky. That's it for now." Narcissa said, Winky nodding in a reply before disappearing with another pop. "Now, Draco, I think you need to be fair here."

Draco scoffed a laugh. "Be fair to who? You and dad? Why should I?" Draco took a sip of his tea, instantly regretting it as it burnt his tongue.

"You make us seem like terrible, heartless parents."

"Recently… you have been."

Narcissa looked shocked at Draco's accusation. "Now… Draco, that's really not fair at all." Narcissa snapped in her anger. "We have _never_ done anything that would make us bad parents."

"You've been amazing parents, unless you count the constant brainwashing as a child and the fact that joining Voldemort's side put my life danger every day." Draco paused, thinking. "But besides that, you've been great." Sarcasm rolled off Draco's tongue.

"I can't deny putting you in danger because of Voldemort, but we didn't brainwash you." Narcissa said, defending what she believed was a false accusation.

"Ever since I was born, you fed me the bullshit that muggleborns are scum, worthless people who don't belong in our world, let alone standing a couple feet from you."

"Draco-"

"You called them mudbloods. One would imply from this name that they bleed mud. Well guess what Mother…. They bleed red, just like us, just like a human being!"

The door suddenly opened, and Lucius came walking in, his eyes on Draco. "I will not tolerate you speaking to your mother like that, especially after everything she's done for you."

Draco rolled his eyes. "You can't hold that over my head forever."

"I can if you deny it."

"You wouldn't have to if you didn't get us mixed up with Voldemort in the first place." Draco stood up, downing his tea in one sip. "Like I told Mum, I didn't come here to get scolded, so I'll just be going."

"Take a seat Draco." Lucius said, blocking his son's exit. "We only wish to talk."

"I'm not going to sit here and talk to you about what's going on between me and Hermione. I already tried that and you, like usual, tried to control the situation."

"Son-"

"No. I'm leaving. When you wish to talk to me about something other than Hermione, owl me." Draco pushed past his father, heading for the exit. Just as he reached the door frame, his father called after him, and what he said forced Draco to stop in his tracks.

"We want to meet her."

Draco turned slowly to face his mother and father. "What?" He asked, making sure he heard his father correctly.

"It's obvious from the look on your face that you have feelings for the girl, so we want to meet our son's girlfriend."

Draco laughed. "She's not my girlfriend. We're just friends."

Lucius smirked at his son, picking up that mornings newspaper that happened to be sitting on a side table. He glanced down at the front page, then turned it so Draco could see. Draco stared back at himself in a picture that took up almost half the front page. In the picture, he wore a smile on his face as Hermione planted her lips on his cheek in a kiss. And now that Draco was looking at it properly without his anger fuming towards the author or the article, he couldn't help but notice that not only did his eyes shine with lust and want… but so did Hermione's. "Yeah, I can tell you're really good friends."

Draco looked back up at his father as Lucius put the paper down. "You've already met her." Draco said, his mind now working up an excuse for his parents not to meet Hermione. It would only be a disaster.

"Not like this. Bring her to the manor tonight for dinner."

"No." Draco said point blank. "I'm not bringing her here."

"Son-" Narcissa chimed in, but Draco interrupted her.

"She was tortured here Mum." Draco said sadly.

"The girl is a Gryffindor." Lucius pointed out. "She's supposed to be brave."

"She's one of the bravest people I have ever met but I'm not going to ask her to come and eat dinner at the same house she was tortured in." Draco said seriously. "_I_ couldn't even stand to live here after the war, which is why I moved out."

"Draco, honey, we just want to meet her." Narcissa said in a soothing voice. "Just ask."

"No." Draco said firmly.

"Then we'll go out for dinner." Narcissa suggested.

Draco rolled his eyes and laughed. "And give Rita Skeeter the opportunity to sneak in some more photos? She would have a field day if she saw the three of us eating dinner with Hermione."

Lucius sighed. "We will meet this girl Draco. You can't keep making up excuses."

"They're not excuses."

"Good. So we'll have dinner tonight at your place then." Lucius nodded at Draco before walking over to the liquor cabinet and getting himself a drink. "we'll send a couple of our house elves over to your place to help… what was your house elves name again?"

"Dimpy." Draco answered quickly. "But-"

"No excuses son, remember?"

"But you hate coming to my flat."

"It's more of a town home really Draco." Narcissa said with a smile. "Now, what time would be a good time for us to show?"

Draco stared back and forth from his parents, not believing how hard they were trying to meet Hermione, and why. "I still need to ask Hermione."

"Then go and ask her. If she says no then we'll have a family dinner at your place, just the three of us." Lucius said, downing his firewhiskey in one gulp.

Draco sighed, throwing his head back in defeat. "Seven would be good I guess."

Lucius and Narcissa smiled. "Great." When it came to their son, they _always_ got what they wanted.

* * *

They sat up in the office eating the lunch that Draco had brought with him when he came to the shop that afternoon. Hermione studied him carefully as she took a bite of her sandwich, watching as Draco kept his eyes on his food, not looking up at her once since they started eating. "Malfoy?" Hermione asked, Draco shooting up his head right away at the sound of his name. "Are you okay? If it's about the kiss last night then I-"

Draco quickly interrupted her, a smile on his face. "No Granger, trust me, I enjoyed the kiss."

Hermione blushed, her eyes immediately returning to her lunch to hide it as she nervously licked her lips. "Then why do you look so depressed? Is it because of the article?"

"No quite." Draco said, taking a quick bit of his lunch. "Speaking of which, did you talk to Weasel yet? See if he saw it?"

"Don't avoid the question Draco. What happened?" Hermione was suddenly very serious, and Draco could tell.

"My parents saw it."

Hermione laughed sarcastically. "I'm sure they _loved_ that."

"Actually… they want to have dinner tonight, the both of us." The sandwich in Hermione's hand fell back on her plate at this words, her eyes widening in shock.

"Malfoy… I-"

"They wanted to have it at Malfoy Manor." Draco quickly interrupted before Hermione could decline. " But I told them no. I told them that I wasn't going to ask you to have dinner at the same place you were tortured at."

Hermione's look of shock disappeared and she smiled brightly at Draco, her heart suddenly warming up a little more towards how thoughtful he was about her feelings. "You-You did? You told them that?"

Draco smiled, nodding back. "Yeah. So we're having dinner at my place instead." Hermione opened her mouth to say something, but Draco continued to talk over her, his nerves setting in. "I'm not going to force you to come, but my parents keep saying they want to meet the girl I keep showing up in the paper with, and I can't really say no to my parents."

Draco continued to talk, and Hermione could help but smile in amusement. He wasn't looking at her. His eyes danced around the office as he rand a hand through his hair and scratched the back of his neck. When Hermione could no longer take his non-stop talking, she reached over the desk and placed her on his one of his. He immediately ceased to talk, staring back into Hermione's friendly, smiling eyes. "I'll come." She smiled even though her insides turned and she wanted to run at the thought of having dinner with all three of the Malfoy's, something she never planned on doing. But hell, if Draco was okay, maybe his parents changed as well. "As long as they're civil." She added quickly.

Draco laughed, finally smiling. "They will be, I promise." Hermione nodded back, removing her hand from Draco's. "Should I floo to your place, or rather Pansy's, at say… 6:30? I can give you a quick tour of my place before my parents show."

Hermione nodded again. "Okay. 6:30 sounds great."

* * *

"Can you believe this shit!?" Ron yelled, slamming The Daily Prophet down on his desk. Harry glanced over his shoulder at his best friend before turning back to what he was doing.

"Relax Ron." Harry said as he continued to fill out the paperwork.

"She ended it with me Harry!" Harry rolled his eyes. This was probably about the tenth time he had to listen to Ron whine about him and Hermione breaking up, and although he was upset that his two best friends were no longer seeing each other, he was getting tired of hearing about it. And then, what showed up in The Daily Prophet didn't make his situation any better.

"I know Ron." Harry said with a sigh.

"I know that you're tired of hearing about this Harry, but I can't help but get angry." Ron said, sighing sadly. "She told me there was nothing going on between the two of them, and then the next morning, not even twelve hours after we break up, she's kissing him!"

"It was just a kiss on the cheek Ron. She could have been thanking him for taking her home is all. Hermione's kissed me on the cheek plenty of times." Harry didn't look up as he spoke. This was how Ron was. He would complain and cry about something and then the next day, forget all about it and just find something else to complain about.

"But this is _Malfoy_, Harry, _Malfoy_!"

"I know who he is Ron." Harry ran a hand through his hair, finally putting down his quill to give his best friend his attention.

"I love her Harry. I just can't let her go and get hurt, because that's what Malfoy is going to do to her."

"You don't know that."

"He's a Death Eater. He'll hurt her."

"Look Ron, I think you just need to give her some space for now. If she wants to be friends with Malfoy, then we can't really stop her."

"Does this look like friendship to you?" Ron asked, picking up the newspaper and pointing at the front picture. Harry sighed, putting his head in his hands. There was no way to reason with Ron, not when he was like this. He was as stubborn as a Slytherin. "I can't let the girl I love get hurt like that."

"Ron, if you loved her as much as you say you do, you would let her go."

"No!" Ron yelled. "That's bullshit! If I really loved her then I would do anything to get her back." Ron's face suddenly changed. His anger disappeared and his eyes widened, becoming fixed on Harry's face and not moving. "And that's exactly what I'm going to do."

As fast as lightning, Ron was behind his desk, quickly packing up all his things. "Ron, where are you going?" Harry asked, now on his feet.

"I'm going to win her back Harry."

"How?" Harry asked.

"The only way I can." Ron said as he through his bag over his shoulder and headed for the door, the morning paper still in his hand. "I'm going to win her back by giving her the one thing she wants more than anything else… her parents."

"What…?" Harry asked himself under his breath as Ron ran out the door.

"Tell them I'm taking a week vacation Harry!" Ron yelled over his shoulder. "I'm on my way to Australia!"

* * *

Draco flooed to Pansy's place at exactly 6:30, landing in the living room. Quickly brushing the soot off himself, he entered further into the house. "Hermione…?" He called out when he didn't see her.

"Draco? Is that you?" Draco smirked as Hermione's voice came from down the hallway.

"Yeah."

"I'll be out in a minute!" She said in a rushed voice. Draco nodded to himself, placing his hands in his pockets and glancing around the living room as he waited. A couple seconds later, Hermione came out of a bedroom wearing a cute yellow, tea length dress. She smiled at Draco when she saw him. "Too much?" She asked, flattening her dress with her hands.

Draco shook his head. "You look great." He smiled back. "Shall we floo to my place? I figured we could avoid that terrible Skeeter woman this way."

"Okay." Hermione said before leading the way towards the fireplace. "It's strange to hear you talk about Rita Skeeter that way." Hermione laughed. "You two were such _buddies_ fourth year with you giving her information, false information, I might add, about me, Harry, and Ron."

Draco laughed as well. "Yes, well, I hated you all then, remember? Besides, it's different when the information is about you."

"Now you know how it feels." Hermione smirked at Draco.

Draco shook his head in disbelief as he smiled back at Hermione. It was such a Malfoy smirk. He was starting to rub off on her. "Yeah, well… don't rub it in." Hermione couldn't help but laugh as she took Draco's hand and they flooed off to his flat.

* * *

Draco's flat, if you could call it a flat, was amazing. It was more of a two story town home, complete with two bedrooms besides the master bedroom, two full bathrooms, a study, a kitchen, a living room and even a dining room. It was more along the lines of a small house then anything else.

"You live here all by yourself?" Hermione asked.

Draco ran a hand through his hair. "Yeah. I couldn't stand living in my manor, not after what happened there, so I got a small place."

"Small?" Hermione questioned with a tiny laugh. "I think my entire flat could fit in just your living room.

Just as Hermione finished talking, the floo network was activated and Lucius and Narcissa stepped into Draco's living room. Hermione nervously licked her lips, Draco grazing her shoulder with her hand as he walked by to greet his parents. Hermione followed him slowly. "Hello Mum." Draco gave his mother a hug, then greeted Lucius with a nod. "Father."

"Hello son." Lucius nodded back before his eyes immediately fell on Hermione.

Draco noticed and quickly walked over to stand next to Hermione. "Mum, dad, this is Hermione Granger."

Hermione extended her hand with a small smile at the elder Malfoy's. "Hello Mr. and Mrs. Malfoy."

"Oh, Narcissa, dear." Narcissa said, smiling back. "Draco's told us all about you."

"But most we already knew, didn't we?" Lucius said, extending his hand, which Hermione shook. "Hermione Granger, war hero and brains of The Golden Trio. Never thought I would be having dinner with _you_, that for sure."

"Dad-" Draco quickly warned, but Hermione spoke over him.

"If having dinner with me, a mudblood, is a problem for you Mr. Malfoy… I can leave." Hermione wasn't going to take any crap from him, that was for sure. She had taken enough mental abuse and name calling in all her years at Hogwarts about being a muggleborn, and she wasn't going to take it now, not after everything she fought for.

"Please stay, dear." Narcissa said with a kind, welcoming smile. "My husband doesn't know what he's saying. Old habits die hard, you know?"

"Yes… I suppose." Hermione glared back at Lucius as he looked over at his wife.

"Shall we eat?" Draco asked, taking the second of silence to break up the bickering. They all followed Draco into the dining room, Draco pushing Hermione into her seat as Lucius and Narcissa sat across from Hermione and the open chair which Draco would occupy after he finished assisting the house elves in getting the dinner out on the table. Normally, he would have had them do the work themselves, since they liked to do it, but he knew how Hermione was with the elves, so he decided to help them tonight.

"So…," Lucius started, looking at Hermione. "What have you been up to exactly since the end of the war Ms. Granger?"

"Oh, well, I moved to Australia to be with my parents and I became a reporter for their newspaper while I was over there."

"Why are your parents in Australia?" Narcissa asked.

"I moved them during the war so they would be safe and changed their memories so they forgot me and wouldn't worry in case something did happen to me."

"Didn't they want to come back to England after you changed their memories back?" Narcissa questioned.

Hermione nervously licked her lips. "I… I didn't change them back."

"You what?" Lucius asked, slightly taken back by her answer.

"The spell never worked when I tried to give them their real memories back. So iw as forced to move into a small flat, get a job, and in my free time I read every book out there, trying to find the spell to change back my parents memories."

"That must be hard, your parents not recognizing you." Lucius was unable to hold back his smirk. "Imagine the brightest witch in England not able to figure out a simple memory spell."

Hermione glared at Lucius, and just as she was about to open her mouth and retort, Draco walked back into the room with a handful of food, followed closely by three house elves. "Father, can you get the wine out of the cabinet for dinner please." Draco said through his teeth, having heard his father's comment and seeing the look on Hermione's face.

Lucius, who didn't like being told what to do, glared at his son before finally standing up to get the wine. When everybody had their food and drink, they all settled in and began to eat. "this is delicious son." Narcissa said, Hermione nodding in agreement just as thunder boomed above them, lightning lighting up the sky as the pitter patter of rain started to hit the windows.

"House elves make fine meals." Lucius said as he took a sip of his wine. "One of the many things they're good at."

"They're very loyal as well, as long as you're nice to them." Hermione added as she took a bite of her dinner.

"Yes… well, you don't always have to be nice." Lucius snapped back. "They're only simple creatures, put on this planet to serve us meals and clean our homes."

"Simple creatures or not, they're still living, breathing things, just like us, and they have feelings as well. They deserve to be treated fairly."

Lucius laughed. "Silly girl. House elves are nothing but pieces of furniture."

"They are not!" Hermione snapped back, not liking being called 'silly little girl'. "They have as much right as we do. I think, if they wanted to, they could come and join us at the table, enjoying the meal that _they_ cooked for _us_."

Lucius looked disgusted. "Like I would eat with that _vermin_."

"Dad-"

"Oh, Vermin…? Like me?" Hermione was becoming outraged and was suddenly regretting agreeing to come to dinner. "Does it make you sick to eat at the same dinner table as me, a mudblood, is eat at?"

"Hermione…." Draco tried to sooth her, placing one of his hands on her shoulder, but Hermione quickly pushed it off, still glaring at Lucius.

"Does it!?" She repeated, this time louder.

"You're human… it's different."

"I'm a creature of this planet, just like them. They work hard just like all of us and the _least_ we could do is respect them."

Lucius laughed, rolling his eyes. "Respect them?" He asked. "Why should I? They're lower then dirt."

"No Mr. Malfoy. As far as I can see, the only thing lower then dirt here is you!" Hermione had reached the end, she couldn't take it anymore. "If you can't even show a small house elf respect then how are you supposed to show me respect?" Hermione was on her feet. "It's obvious you only wanted to have dinner with me tonight to mock and make fun of me, and I won't sit here and take it, not after everything I've done to put people like you in the place they belong."

"Hermione, wait." Draco said, standing up as well as Hermione pushed her chair in.

"It was a pleasure to meet you again Narcissa, and thank you for the little bit of meal I could enjoy Draco, but I'm afraid I can't stay any longer."

She turned on her heel and headed for the front door, the nearest exit, ignoring Draco's please for her to stay. When it was clear she wasn't coming back, Draco turned to his father and glared at him. "Thanks for being civil." He said sarcastically before running after Hermione. He caught up to her just as she shut the front door, and opening it back up, he chased after her into the pouring rain. "Hermione, please wait!" Draco grabbed her lower arm and turned her to face him.

"What Draco?!" She yelled over the pouring rain, her dress already soaked as Draco's clothes quickly started to match hers. I'm not going back in there!"

"I know. I'm sorry. I promised you they would be civil."

"He has no right, you know that?" Hermione asked, Draco only nodding as she continued to vent out her anger and frustration. "First he comes marching in, sending me disgusted looks, then practically says he doesn't even want to eat with me there since he never pictured himself doing it in the first place. Then he goes and insults me by saying I can't perform a simple spell, calling me a 'silly little girl'. I mean, come on, while I was off saving the world he was cowering in fear from Voldemort, which makes _him_ the 'silly little girl'." Hermione stopped for a second to catch her breath, groaning in frustration before continuing. "I'm sorry Draco, but he insulted me and my house elf beliefs. There are something's I can stand, but making fun of my beliefs isn't one of them. He's just such a… a-"

If you asked Draco now why he did it, he couldn't tell you. It could have been that Hermione calling his farther a 'silly little girl' and not being able to find the right curse to describe him in that big brain of hers was a turn on, or the small shock that he just realized ran through his finger tips when he touched her, or even that the distance between their bodies was closing without them realizing it as the rain soaked their bodies even more, but he did it, and without a second thought. With his hand still gripped around her lower arm, Draco pulled Hermione into him, placing his hands on her waist before kissing her.

Draco Malfoy kissed Hermione Granger, crashing their lips together as the rain poured down their faces. It wasn't until a couple seconds had passed, did Draco realize that Hermione wasn't kissing him back, when he stopped.

He pulled away quickly, staring back at Hermione who was looking at him in shock, not moving like a deer in headlights. "I'm sorry." Draco quickly apologized awkwardly, cursing himself inwardly for ruining everything. "I got caught up in the mome-"

Draco couldn't finish his sentence because at that moment, Hermione crashed her lips onto Draco's. Once he was over the initial shock, he kissed her back, his hands finding her hips again, her perfect hips. As Draco grazed his tongue on Hermione's lips, the latter allowing him access, they became lost in each other for the first time. Bodies pressed together and hands in each other's hair, fireworks went off in both of their hearts as enemies became much more than just friends, the only witnesses the two older Malfoy's watching from the window.

Narcissa smiled at the connection between the teens as Lucius looked on in shock, not believing what he was seeing. "Well Lucius," Narcissa patted her husband's back before continuing to eat. "Looks like you finally met your match in that girl." And Lucius couldn't argue, because his wife was indeed right.

"At least she's intelligent." Lucius sat back down to eat as well, thinking how he would have to congratulate his son on finally picking someone with a good head on her shoulders.

* * *

_*squeals* i was SOO excited to write this chapter, and i'm sure you know why now. so now that they finally kissed, who knows whats next ;). for those of you who are good guessers, can anybody guess what's going to happen when ron gets to australia :)_

_please remember to review guys! i didnt get as many as i usually get and it kind of brought me down, so please remember! just tell me what you liked in the chapter and i'll be satisfied! thanks!_


	15. From Old to New

_Hello everyone! So it's been a month... exactly, and i appologize. I must admit, I'm starting to get lazy when it comes to this story. I have the ending all planned out in my head, but I'm slowly starting to run out of ideas. So between brainstorming, tons and tons of hours at work, and writers block, it's been pretty hard. __With that being said, if **ANYBODY** and i mean **ANYBODY **has any ideas or things they would like to see happening in this story, please please please let me know. If i get something that i like and end up using in the story, the chapter with it in it will get donated to you! It would be greatly appreciated and will also help move the story along faster!_

_Thanks to those who reviewed last chapter:  
Avanell: Happy you liked it!  
Irmorena: I'm really happy you liked it and stick around becuase you just might get what your asking for ;)  
Spunkywave77: first off... love the name! keep reading... your wish might come true.  
readingtilldawn: lol thank you for making me laugh!  
padfootsgrl79: yeah, i'm not a Ron fan either im afraid to admit.  
silvereyedwolf: im really happy you liked my lucius and narcissa. i was nervous nobody would like how different i made them  
mjmusiclover: thanks for the review... like always :D  
OrangeJuice7: sorry it took so long! happy you liked the kiss!  
daniela1417: haha happy you liked it. it was my favorite as well  
: lol thank you so much!  
voldyismyfather: lol love your name and im really happy you enjoyed the chapter  
dracomalfoyswifey: the tattoo did hurt but not as bad as i thought it was going to. i think i built myself up for a lot of pain and becuase i expected more it wasnt all that bad. but thanks for the review!  
jessirose: ;)  
90sgurl: happy you liked it!_

* * *

Fifteen

April 15  
Day 8

Ron held the address to Hermione's parents house in his hands, written down neatly on a piece of parchment, as he looked at the home in front of him. He quickly confirmed the address before starting up the walkway towards the house. When he reached the door, he lifted his hand to knock, but froze, licking his lips nervously. Was he really going to do this? He sighed again. He _didn't_ have a choice. He needed to get Hermione back and away from Malfoy. He would only end up hurting her.

He licked his lips before lifting his hand to knock again, when suddenly, someone spoke behind him. "I wouldn't do that if I were you." Ron nearly jumped out of his skin. Her whipped around, coming face to face with someone who was all too familiar to him and one he couldn't stand the sight of. "Besides… they're out for breakfast anyway."

Pansy Parkinson stared back at Ron, a small smile on her face. Her arms were crossed against her chest as she leaned her hip against one of the poles to the picket fence surrounding the Granger's property. "What in the hell are you doing here?" Ron spat.

Pansy looked slightly taken back by his sudden rudeness, but ignored it all the same. She should have expected him to act like that, especially after the way she treated him and his friends in Hogwarts. "Wow Weasley. And I always thought that _I_ would hold the grudge and not you."

"As long as I live I'll hold a grudge against any Slytherin. They can't be trusted." Rose spoke through his teeth before turning back to the door, getting ready to knock again.

Pansy however, spoke up. "Who pissed in your cereal this morning?"

Ron sighed, dropping his hand again and turning to face a now smirking Slytherin_. Well that's new. _As he looked at Pansy, one face to came to mind at her question. Malfoy. Draco Malfoy had pissed in his cereal. "You never answered my question." Ron pointed out, not wanting to answer Pansy's.

"And you just ignored mine." Pansy continued to smirk at him, unfolding her arms and moving closer towards Ron. "I come here every day at this time. Hermione's parents leave to go to breakfast and I stand at the corner and watch them."

"Why?" Ron asked, his frown turning into curiously. "What do you have to gain from watching Hermione's parents go to breakfast? It's kind of creepy to be honest with you."

Pansy laughed at this. He was right, it was creepy to watch someone from the corner everyday as they go to breakfast. "It's more about proving a point. All of us Slytherins have something to prove now a days." Pansy sighed. "I guess I come here every day to try and gain some courage to do exactly what you were planning on doing. I did manage it once, but it was a disaster." Pansy paused. "Trust me Weasley… you don't want to go in there."

"No. I don't really…." Ron admitted. "But I have to get Hermione back."

"Get Hermione back?" Pansy asked, confused. "Who took her?"

"Malfoy." Ron spat, the name like venom in his mouth. "I don't know how to undue the spell he put on her, so I decided to come here and change her parents memories back so they would remember her. I figured if I could give Hermione the one thing she wanted more then anything else, I could break Malfoy's spell and have her in my arms again."

Pansy smirk turned into a smile as she looked up at Ron. "So I take it they're getting along?"

"Too well." Ron sighed, running his hand through his hair. "Stupid git." Ron muttered under his breath, making Pansy chuckle.

"Draco's not a git, Weasley. He's changed, you know. We _all_ have." Ron rolled his eyes. "And that 'spell' he has on Hermione is one Draco has put under many."

"If he hurts one hair on her head, I swear I'll-"

"Relax Weasley. How long have they been… friendly?" Pansy asked.

"Couple days I guess." Ron reached into his back pocket and pulled out the Daily Prophet. "She already left me and went off to kiss Malfoy." He handed the paper to Pansy after taking a glance at it himself. When Pansy found the picture, a smile quickly grew as she watched Hermione kiss Draco's cheek over and over again. "Do you see why I need to get back now? Malfoy's just using her."

Pansy looked back up at Ron, her smile fading. "Draco wouldn't do that, not to Hermione. Trust me."

"Honestly Parkinson… I don't." Ron sighed, running a hand through his hair. "I need to stop her from making the worst mistake of her life."

"And who said you saving her wouldn't turn out to be the biggest mistake of _your_ life?" Pansy sighed as Ron just stared at her. Slowly, she turned her head towards the street and started moving towards it. "Come on Weasley." She yelled over her shoulder.

"Come on where?"

She stopped walking, turning around to face him. "If you want to change back Granger's parents and make the biggest mistake of your life, which it will be, then I'll take you to see them." She continued to walk towards the street, leaving Ron standing on the porch. "Coming Weasley?" She asked, turning her head and smirking at Ron.

Ron licked his lips before chasing after her. He didn't want to spend time with Pansy Parkinson, but if it helped him to get Hermione back, then he would do whatever he had to.

Hermione's head shot up from the front desk of The Purple Pansy when she heard the clinging of the front bell. She smiled, expecting to see their first costumer of the day, but instead Draco came walking inside. Her smile remained, but as he smiled at her, she blushed slightly, lowering her eyes to make herself look busy with some of the papers that lined the counter.

She couldn't help but blush at the one he now looked at her. He looked at her with want and lust, the way that somebody would look at someone after they shared a romantic moment… like a kiss. Hermione had a sudden flash of the night before run through her mind as she blinked, only causing her to blush more. Draco Malfoy should not make her feel this way.

But the truth way, he already had, and there was no stopping it now.

"Good morning." Draco said when he approached the desk.

Hermione had no choice but to look up at him, praying to God that the blood had rushed out of her face as quickly as it had come. "'Morning." She greeted with a smile. "You're here early."

Draco nodded. "I have to do some field work today so I wouldn't have been able to stop by later."

"So you came along now?" Hermione asked with a small chuckle. "I didn't even know you woke up this early." She teased.

Draco smirked back, faking a laugh. "Actually… I have a surprise for you." Hermione's smile fell slightly. "But you have to come with me."

"Oh… I can't leave. Amanda can't handle the shop on her own."

Draco just smiled at Hermione. "She's handled it on many occasions all by herself. Besides, it'll only be for a couple of hours."

"I don't know Draco… I'm supposed to stay here and help out." Hermione bit her lower lip. "I promised Pansy-"

"Pansy smansy." Draco said with a wave of his hand. He was becoming frustrated. If Hermione didn't come with him the whole day he had planned out would be ruined. "Please Granger." He couldn't believe he was begging. He never begged.

Hermione sighed. "You promise it'll be for only a couple of hours."

Draco's grin grew. He knew he was pulling her in. "I promise."

"Okay." Hermione said, a smile on her face from the excitement of where Draco was going to be taking her. "I'll go."

"Great!" Draco couldn't help the huge smile that was on his face as he extended his hand towards Hermione, who was now rounding the desk to come stand next to him. "Hold my hand, and make sure you close your eyes."

"Close my eyes?" Hermione asked as she ignored the tingle that ran up her arm as she latched onto Draco's hand.

"Yeah. It wouldn't be a surprise if you saw where you were going." Draco answered slyly with a smirk.

Hermione rolled her eyes and hit Draco lightly with her free hand. "I know that. I meant… aren't we apparating. If we're apparating then it's pointless for me to close my eyes because I won't be able to see where were going anyway."

"We have to pass through something else first and if you see that, then it'll be a dead giveaway."

"What are we passing through?"

Draco sighed. "Can you just trust me Granger?"

"Surprisingly enough… I think I can." They both smiled at each other before Hermione closed her eyes. "Okay… I'm ready."

"Hold on then." Draco said before gripping her tighter and apparating on the spot.

Hermione could feel the sensation of apparating, and within seconds, fresh air filled her nostrils and she could feel sunlight hitting her skin. With her eyes sight now gone, she relied on her ears, and she could heard the birds singing as water splashed in the distance, people talking all around her. The temptation to open her eyes and see where she was was immense, but Hermione fought it.

"Good morning Mr. Malfoy." Somebody spoke near them. "I was told you'd be showing up here today."

"Just came to check up on how things are going is all, Mr. Montey." Hermione heard Draco speak besides her, and she could tell by his voice that he was smiling. This place, wherever they were, must mean a lot to Draco. "And I brought a critic with me. Biggest one I ever met." Draco teased.

Mr. Montey laughed. "Well… I'll be around if you need me."

"Thanks." Hermione could feel Draco start to walk, pulling her along. "Come on Hermione." As Draco pulled her, Hermione could feel the terrain of the land they were standing on starting to head upwards, and now it was really starting to bug her that Draco hadn't told her to open her eyes yet.

"Draco? Who was that?"

"One of my employees."

"Oh. Employees for what?"

Draco chuckled. "You have a question for everything… don't you?"

"I wouldn't be Hermione Granger if I didn't." She retorted.

"Touché." Draco murmured under his breath. "Mr. Montey is one of the people who answer to me directly. He's one of the heads of the buildings and grounds. I put him in charge of straightening up the grounds while his partner is in charge of fixing up the building. They're my most trusted, which is why I put them in charge of my biggest, and most personal, reconstruction project so far."

"And what project is that?"

Draco chuckled again. "Open your eyes and you'll see."

When Hermione did, her mouth fell to the floor. Standing before her, looking exactly like it had for almost half her life… was Hogwarts. "Hogwarts!" Hermione turned to Draco, a huge, bright smile on her face. "You brought me to Hogwarts?" Draco nodded as Hermione launched herself into his arms, capturing him in a huge hug. "Oh Malfoy, you didn't have to bring me here."

"Yes I did." Draco said when Hermione released the hug. "I wanted to show you everything that changed, see what you thought. You're the first person besides the workers, staff, or students to see the changes and renovation." Hermione beamed at him. "It might as well be a member of The Golden Trio."

"You never stop surprising me." Hermione said under her breath.

Draco could feel the blush running up his neck, but quickly hid it by pulling Hermione up towards Hogwarts. "Come on. I'll show you the grounds first." Draco took Hermione up by the forbidden forest first, and as they approached it, Hermione had to squint her eyes to make out what she was seeing. But when she could finally make out what it was, she froze in shock, her breath catching in her throat. They were standing where the last part of the battle took place, the same place Neville had decapitated Voldemort's snake, Nagini. But what surrounded them now is what forced Hermione to stop dead.

Stone monuments, statues, of the people who stayed behind to help fight were placed in battle formation all along the grass. Hermione could just make out the Creevy brothers mixed in with the hundreds of other stone students. "Draco…." Hermione breathed, her hand covering her mouth as she slowly started walking closer to the statues, now running her finger tips along the hand of one of them.

"We wanted to do something to those who shouldn't' have stayed behind, yet did anyway, and fell victim to Voldemort. We sent out letter to those who we knew of, asking for their permission to build the statues, and with their approval, we received even more names. We couldn't let their courage go without notice."

"I can't believe you did all this." Hermione said, shell shocked, glancing around at all the faces, some she recognized and others she didn't.

"Something had to be done." Draco said sadly. "Now when the present students walk to class or are just wandering the grounds, they'll remember everyone who fought and helped to protect the school."

Hermione glanced over at Draco, a small smile forming in her lips. "This is amazing."

Draco smiled back. "There's still more." He grabbed her hand and started to pull her up towards the castle again. As they walked towards the main entrance, Draco took a detour past the Astronomy Tower. "I made this statue myself." Draco spoke sadly as they rounded the corner. "I felt… I felt like it was the least I could do."

Hermione stared at Draco sadly, and when she finally took her eyes off him, she felt her heart sink for Draco and for the longing of the person that stood in front of her. Standing before her, on the bottom of the Astronomy Tower, stood a statue of Albus Dumbledore. Hermione looked at it with sadness of the loss of her headmaster, and then turned to Draco. He was staring at it as well, his lips a tight line and his eyes glassy, almost like he was trying to hold back tears. "Draco…?" Hermione called, her eyes on Draco.

"Every time I come to visit this place, I walk by here and his tombstone… and I just stare at it, wondering if things would have been different if I hadn't…-." Draco sighed. "I just hope he forgives me."

Hermione gave Draco's hand a squeeze. "He does." She said, looking at him seriously, hoping Draco would understand by her tone that Dumbledore never blamed him for anything. "You didn't kill him Draco."

"But I did." He said, finally looking at her.

"You didn't. Dumbledore planned his death. He knew he would die. You did nothing to change the course of his future. The sooner you realize this, the sooner you'll move on and realize that Dumbledore never blamed you for anything." Draco couldn't help but smile at Hermione. "He knew you were a good person."

"Thanks Hermione." Draco said under his breath, his eyes trailing back over to Dumbledore's statue.

Hermione nodded back, although Draco couldn't see her. Wanting to get him away from the monument as soon as possible, Hermione tugged on his hand. "Is there more?" Draco looked over at her, and with one look, understood what she was attempting to do. With a nod, he allowed her to pull her towards the main entrance to the school.

When they finally pushed the doors open, Hermione froze in her spot again. Standing in the center of the giant foyer, where the Hogwarts crest used to sit, now stood another monument, this one huge in comparison to the rest. Surrounding the monument, build to look like a mountain, stood more figurines, only these people she recognized. Along the bottom of the mountain stood all the members of Dumbledore's Army: Fred and George Weasley, Ginny Weasley, Cho Chang, Katie Bell, Lavender Brown, Hannah Abbott, Michael Corner, Susan Bones, Terry Boot, the Creevy brothers again, Justin Flinch-Fletchy, Seamus Finnigin, Lee Jordan, Angelina Johnson, Neville, Luna, Ernie Macmillan, the Patil twins, Zacharias Smith, Alicia Spinnet, and Dean Thomas.

Hermione was at a complete loss for words, until she saw there were more than just D.A. members. Above them stood every member of the new, reconstructed, Order of the Phoenix: Sirius Black, Mungus Fletcher, Remus Lupin, Alastor Moody, Kingsley Shacklebot, Nymphadora Tonks, Arthur, Molly, Bill, and even Charlie Weasley.

Then finally, standing on the very top of the monument, Hermione found herself staring back into her own face along with Harry and Ron's as well. She shook her head at it in amazement before finally realizing there was a small plaque lined at the bottom of it. She approached it slowly, then started reading it aloud when she was close enough to make out the words.

"This monument is to stand here in remembrance to those, young and old, who suffered through everything to make a victory possible and give the new world a better tomorrow. From the members of Dumbledore's Army, fighting what was denied of them in secret, to the members of The Order of the Phoenix, planning to fight to the death for those who couldn't. We will always remember those who followed the three brave best friends, Harry Potter, Ronald Weasley, and Hermione Granger into a victory they didn't even believe possible. We thank them all through this, and see it in daily remembrance and thanks to those lost and still living among us in the world we wouldn't surrender without a fight."

Hermione sighed when she finished, reading over the plaque again in her head. Draco slowly approached the side of her, looking at her face for approval or getting ready to be shut down. "What do you think?"

Hermione turned to him and smiled, her eyes now as glassy as Draco's were only a few minutes before. She was on the verge of letting tears fall down her face… tears of happiness. "I think everyone would _love_ it. Really Draco… I never expected this. It's amazing!"

"You really think so?"

Hermione nodded. "It's the best thank you any of us have every received. So… thank you."

Draco smiled, another blush creeping up his neck. "There's just a couple more things I wanted to show you." He grabbed her hand again and started pulling her up the stairs. He led her straight for where the Room of Requirement used to be and stopped when he reached the painting of the trolls learning to tap dance. "The Room of Requirement was beyond repair after the war, so we had no choice but to clean it up after the fire and make it into a re-usable room. After we did, we realized it still held some magic from before."

"What do you mean?"

"Well… in the middle of the summer, a worker who was helping to rebuild it must have become dehydrated, so knowing he was at his braking point, he must have wished for a glass of water. What should happen next but a large glass of ice water to pop out of thing air in front of him." Hermione smiled in amazement. "So although the room lost the magic to change to suit your needs, it still gave you what you asked for, so we decided we should use this to our advantage." Draco pointed above the door to a sign that hung directly over it, before pushing the door open and sticking his arm out to let Hermione walk in first.

"We call it The Community Hall. It's a place for students of every house to… mingle. There's no more prejudice in this place. In that part of the hall," Draco pointed to his right. "Is what we call 'Potter's place'."

Hermione chuckled at the name. "'Potter's Place'?"

Draco smiled back with a laugh. "Corny… I know. But it has a good purpose. Just like the D.A., it's where older students come together to tutor those younger than them. Teachers love it."

"I can imagine." Hermione said before turning to the left. "And what's that?" She asked, reading the sign above the section of the room.

"Weasley's World." Draco responded before grinning, Hermione shaking her head in amusment. "It's a place for students to eat, laugh, and just sit around the relax. Teachers… aren't to fond of this one, especially when they find their students skipping class."

Hermione laughed. "I can't believe you devoted a part of Hogwarts to Harry and Ron."

"Oh… but my dear Gryffindork… I'm not done yet. One more final surprise." Hermione allowed Draco to pull her along, a curious look on her face, going in a direction that she knew only too well. When they reached it, Hermione looked up at the sign above the door. It only took a couple seconds for her mouth to fall to the floor. "You didn't think I forgot about you, did you?" Draco asked, amused.

"The Hermione Granger Library." She said out loud as she read the sign over again. "You named the library after me?" She asked, whipping her head around to look at Draco.

Draco nodded. "I was just going to have them build you a section in The Community Hall, fill it with all kinds of books, but I figured we already had one of those. So, with McGonagall's permission, we renamed the library after you. You spent half your time at Hogwarts there anyway, so I figured-"

Draco's sentence was cut off as Hermione launched herself at him. She wrapped her arms around him in a hug. "Thank you Draco!" And before Hermione knew what she was doing, she crashed her lips onto his, catching them both off guard. Once she was able to talk enough sense into herself, immediately jumped out of his arms. Blood rushed to her face as she nervously licked her lips, her eyes on the ground. "I'm-"

"Granger." Draco quickly interrupted her, putting his index finger under her chin. He lifted her head up and ran the pad of his thumb over her cheek bone. "You're welcome." Hermione smiled at him, placing her hand on top of Draco's. They locked eyes before Hermione pulled Draco's hand off her face and wrapped her arms around him, placing her head on his chest. Draco couldn't help the goofy smile that spread across his face as he wrapped his arms around Hermione, placing one hand on the small of her back and the other hand on the back of her head.

"I still can't believe you did all this." She said with a content sigh.

"Come on." Draco said, patting her back as Hermione released him. "There's someone who I'm sure is dying to see you."

"Who?" Hermione asked as Draco led her down the hall.

"You'll see."

"Hagrid!" There was no mistaking who was standing ten feet in front of them. Hagrid stood taller than anybody she knew. He was easily the easiest person to find in a crowded room.

When he turned around to see who had called him, he smiled brightly, he black beetle eyes suddenly swimming with joy. "'Ermione? Is that you?" Hermione ran into Hagrid's arms, squeezing her arms around him as best she could. "What are you doing here at Hogwarts?" Hagrid asked, not yet noticing Draco.

Draco was slowly approaching the two friends, not wanting to ruin their reunion. "Draco brought me." Hermione answered once her and Hagrid were not longer in an embrace, turning and nodding towards the blond behind them.

Hagrid smiled slightly at Draco, the latter doing the same. "Hello Hagrid." Draco said, extending a hand.

"Hello Draco." Hagrid shook Draco's hand with a little more strength then necessary judging by the face Draco made when they made contact. "It's been a while since you paid me a visit."

"I've been busy. I helped a friend of mine start a business. My work has turned from world work to office work unfortunately."

Hermione looked at the two in utter shock. "Are you two… friends?"

Hagrid chuckled as Hermione's question as Draco nodded. "He fixed up me house." Hagrid spoke appreciatively.

"I heard." Hermione remembered the night at The Burrow when Draco told everyone about his work. "I just never imagined you would become friendly." She looked at Draco as she spoke.

Draco shrugged. "Nobody expected _us_ to become friendly either, but here we are."

Hermione chuckled at the word 'friendly'. She never thought she would say it, but since what happened the night before, she and Draco went a little farther than 'friendly' in her book. She nodded at Draco anyway, it was a rather good point.

"So Hermione, want to come and see me new home since you're here. I'm sure Fang would love to see you as well."

"Sure Hagrid." Hermione and Draco followed Hagrid farther out onto the grounds, taking the path that was all too familiar to them. When they finally reached Hagrid's hut, Hermione smiled at Draco. The old part of his home still remained; only another extension had been built on to the back. Hermione gave Hagrid an approving smile as she turned from Draco. Hagrid quickly led them inside, obviously eager to show off his new home.

"I have me a bigger kitchen now." Hagrid led them towards the extended part of the house. Where his old kitchen used to sit now sat a couch and a giant pillow for Fang, who ran over and immediately began licking Hermione's hand.

His new kitchen was huge, completely with a biggest table that could seat up to eight people. "This is great Hagrid."

"Thanks." He said, pointing towards the table. "Sit you two, and I'll make some tea."

Hermione and Draco followed orders and took a seat at the kitchen table. Fang immediately went over to Draco and rested his head on his leg, getting drool all over it. Draco didn't seem to mind though, in fact, he ignored it, rubbing Fang's head lightly. Hermione stared at him in wonderment. The _old_ Draco Malfoy could never do this. The _old_ Draco Malfoy would be disgusted at the dog drool on his perfectly clean clothes.

Hagrid pulled Hermione out of her thoughts by placing her tea in front of her, then taking a seat. "So, you two befriended each other I take it?"

"We did." Draco answered first. "Finally."

Hagrid chuckled. "It's about time enemies became friends. The dark times are over. It's time to move on."

"I agree." Hermione said as Draco smiled at her.

"You know though, surprisingly, it's not hard to befriend him." Hagrid nodded his head towards Draco. "I always saw the Malfoy's as cold hearted people, but then I hear Draco's going to be fixing up Hogwarts and I couldn't help but smile. I always knew there was some good mixed in with all that evil out there. And then he comes up to me front door and offers to fix up me house for me." Hagrid said, smiling at Draco. "Most people say you just have something to prove, but I don't believe it. I believe that you had it in your heart all along."

Draco just continued to smile back at Hagrid, not really sure how to respond to that. Hermione, however, kept her eyes on Draco, her mind racing again. Draco Malfoy fixing up Hagrid's hut out of the goodness of his cold, black heart…?

Maybe he really _had_ changed.

"Did you enjoy the surprise?"

Hermione nodded. "Yes, thank you." She responded as they walked down Diagon Alley towards The Purple Pansy. The mood between the Gryffindor and Slytherin had turned quite after leaving Hagrid's. It wasn't awkward, surprisingly, just quiet. Hermione was lost in thought and Draco was to embarrassed b how highly Hagrid has talked about him to even speak. But Hermione had a question that was bugging her, and she had to ask it. "Draco?"

"Hmm?"

"Can I ask you something?"

"Sure."

"You didn't fix up Hogwarts so your children will have a nice school one day… did you?" Hermione had stopped walking and Draco stared at her, caught off guard by her sudden question. When he couldn't delay answering her any longer, he shook his head, forming his lips into a tight line. "Why?"

Draco sighed. Hermione Granger really was too smart for her own good. "Because I just stood there and did nothing." Draco answered quietly. "The whole war I stood behind Voldemort, watching him torture and kill. I helped Death Eaters get into Hogwarts, killing Dumbledore and giving Voldemort free reign of the school. I allowed my father and Voldemort to push me to become something that I didn't want to be anymore. I tortured and killed other because I was selfish and scared for my own life. I… I watched my aunt torture you, to scared to help the one person I should have helped from the beginning."

Draco inhaled a deep breath as Hermione placed her hand on his shoulder. "Once the war was over I knew I _had_ to do something to make up for what I didn't do. Hagrid was wrong. People think I do what I do because I want to prove that I really am I a good person, but the only person I'm trying to prove it to is myself. I need to know that deep down inside… I always had a good heart."

"Draco-"

"Sometimes I wish I could take everything back, make people look at me the way they look at you. They know who I am, who I _was_, and it's never going to change."

"Yes it will Draco. You're a good person."

"They'll never see it."

"They _will_."

"How do you know?"

"Because I can see it. I may not have been able to see it a month ago, but I can see it now." And it wasn't a lie. Draco Malfoy had changed. He no longer cared if a big basset hound slobbered on his clothes, he became brave enough to admit to his mistakes, he was able to mend pieces he broke in the past, and he spent his own money to start a new part of The Ministry that was designed to simply fix up things that were damaged due to the war. He wasn't the selfish prick he used to be in Hogwarts.

He was a _new_ Draco Malfoy, and Hermione found herself slowly falling for her old school enemy.

* * *

_Well i hope you guys liked it. Remember, if anybody has any ideas, PLEASE send them my way. i'm becoming desperate._

_Also, I have a new story i started a couple weeks ago. It's not a Dramione, but a Rose/Scorpius, which i find to be just as great as Dramione. They're rather similiar if you think about it. Two people who arent meant to fall in love but end up anyway despite what thier family and friends tell them. Go check it out if you have the time. i promise a good story._

_One more thing, there is another story out there that i am simply in LOVE with. It's called _The Pumpkin and the Buttercup _by _insert cute username here_. It's Dramione, of course, and for such a good story it doesn't have as many reviews as it should have. But i encourage you to read it!_

_Please remember to review and leave some ideas! _


	16. Hermione's Surprise

_Hello to all! Sorry for the super long wait for this chapter. I tend to slow down on all my updates when its summer time. But regardless... here is the next chapter. And if i do say so myself, this one is one of my favorites so far. I hope youre ready._

_I'm dedicating this chapter to **Anaharath **for pointing out to me that I completely forgot to include a Snape memorium in the last chapter. I fixed it in this chapter :)_

_Thanks to those who reviewed last chapter:  
JazzedVanilla: I'm happy youre enjoying it so far.  
ebm56: i loved your review. you enjoyed all the parts that had fun writing, which makes me feel great about them :). and dont worry... you can make a pansy and ron prediction ;)  
daniela1417:wait and see!  
dracomalfoyswifey: im SO happy you liked my hogwarts. i was so worried people wouldnt.  
Mistress of DarkShadow: happy you like it that much!  
Spunkywave77: im glad you liked how draco redeemed himself  
summer: thanks!  
Anaharath: thanks for pointing that out to me!  
OrangeJuice7: lol im glad you think its cute  
mjmusiclover: thank you so much!  
DogLover: thanks for pointing out the mistake. i'll be sure to fix it.  
padfootsgrl79: lol im not really sure either.  
Irmorena: thanks for the ideas. you had some i already had in mind but if i use any that you gave me, i'll be sure to give you credit.  
HarryPGinnyW4eva: thanks for the great review. your words helped me alot.  
silvereyeswolf: it's gonna be good.  
Emmiline-Zahara-Rose: glad you liked hogwarts!  
Avanell: lol i always thought the same thing._

_Last Chapter: "Yes it will Draco. You're a good person."_

_"They'll never see it."_

_"They will."_

_"How do you know?"_

_"Because I can see it. I may not have been able to see it a month ago, but I can see it now." And it wasn't a lie. Draco Malfoy had changed. He no longer cared if a big basset hound slobbered on his clothes, he became brave enough to admit to his mistakes, he was able to mend pieces he broke in the past, and he spent his own money to start a new part of The Ministry that was designed to simply fix up things that were damaged due to the war. He wasn't the selfish prick he used to be in Hogwarts._

_He was a new Draco Malfoy, and Hermione found herself slowly falling for her old school enemy._

* * *

Sixteen

April 16  
Day 9

Her long black hair ran down her face in waves, ending as it touched her shoulders, her baby blue eyes watching the paintings on the walls as she walked farther down the hall, most glaring back at her. She would smirk back at them knowingly. She knew why they despised her. Everybody in this God for saken family did, but that wasn't her problem. She didn't care about them, not anymore. They weren't her problem to begin with really, and she had thought that they didn't give a damn about her either, but apparently she was wrong.

As she reached the double doors that led to the study of the Manor she was in, she knocked with her small hands, standing back and quickly fixing her hair and skirt before she heard a faint 'hello' from behind the door. Putting a fake smile on her face, she pushed the door open and walked inside. As she closed the door and turned, her eyes met with the man who had asked her to come and see him that day. She smirked at him. "Hello Lucius."

"Ah… Sophia. You haven't changed much. And it's Mr. Malfoy if you will." Lucius placed his quill down on his desk and stood up from his chair, pointing to the seat that sat in front of his desk. "Please, take a seat."

Sophia said nothing, just swung her hips from side to side as she approached the seat that Lucius had pointed to. Lucius had to shake his head to stop himself from staring at the girls long legs. He was a married man for Merlin's sake. But, oh, Sophia was gorgeous, there was no denying it. That was why this plan was going to work, past or no past. "So Lucius…-." Sophia glanced down at her finger nails as she spoke. "Is your wife home?" She looked up at Lucius with a smirk worthy of a Malfoy at the question. Lucius, however, looked outraged.

"Now, you listen closely to me Ms. Diplo. I did not ask you here to my home for my own personal pleasure. Narcissa and I are happier then we have ever been. I don't need a young woman such as yourself to help me in that department."

"I would disagree." Sophia crossed her arms over her chest and raised an eyebrow at Lucius.

"Excuse me?" Lucius glared at the young girl. What did she know? She knew nothing, and had no right telling him what he had going on in his marriage. "You know nothing of my marriage."

"Your marriage isn't what I was talking about." Sophia went back to examining her finger nails. "I was talking about your happiness. I highly doubt that you and your wife could be that happy with what your son is up to." Lucius opened his mouth to argue, but had to close it right away. The girl had hit the nail on the head and had brought up exactly what he had called her hear to talk about. "If I had a son who was prancing around with some mudblood, I'd be furious."

"Would you now?" Lucius asked, finally taking a seat as well, causing Sophia to look up at him.

"Well of course I would. I find it hard to believe that you and your wife, prestigious pureblood family aren't."

Lucius smirked at the girl, causing her to frown slightly. "Then you won't mind helping me solve my little family… problem." Lucius sat back in his chair and waited for Sophia to speak first.

"What do you need my help with?" Sophia asked, looking interested. "I highly doubt that there's anything I can do to change Draco's mind about the girl, especially after the past we have."

"You cheated on my son Sophia." Lucius chuckled slightly. "You broke whatever trust he had for you, but I my son still has those lingering feelings for you, not to mention you have your beauty to help you along with this situation."

Sophia looked at Lucius curiously. "Draco still has feelings for me?"

Lucius laughed. "I'm not saying my sons going to fall back in love with you Ms. Diplo, I'm just saying that there's enough feelings there for this plan to work."

"Plan?" Sophia laughed this time. "Lucius, if you think I'm going to help you out of the goodness of my heart, then you have another thing coming. Like you said… I haven't changed much."

Lucius leaned towards his desk and pulled open one of the drawers. Sophia watched him curiously and smirked when Lucius placed a sack of coins down on the table. "A hundred galleons." Sophia went to reach for it, but Lucius quickly pulled it away. "You will only get this money if my plan succeeds Ms. Diplo."

Sophia sighed. "What is this brilliant plan of yours anyway?"

"What can you tell me about Ms. Hermione Granger?"

Draco looked up from the fireplace, the current head of one of his workers at Hogwarts visible in the flames as he heard a knock. "Enter." Draco said quickly before turning back to the fire, listening to the door open as he spoke. "I understand James, and I'm glad you brought this to my attention." Draco turned his head to see his visitor and smiled right away, mouthing a 'hello' to the bushy haired Gryffindor. Hermione smiled and waved back as she stood by the door, waiting patiently for Draco to finish his conversation. "Yes, send one of the people in charge of the statue an owl addressing them we need one of Severus Snape. I'll leave you in charge of it's location James."

Hermione could hear the person in the fire say a farewell before Draco cut it off and turned towards Hermione. "A statue of Snape?" She asked.

Draco nodded. "Apparently a current student brought it to a workers attention. Gryffindor, believe it or not."

"Snape deserves it. He's did so much for the war, most of which went unnoticed."

"Yeah." Draco ran a hand through his hair. "Which is why I gave him the go ahead."

"Tell them to build the statue of Snape with a doe." Hermione said as she approached Draco.

"A doe?" Draco asked, confused.

She smiled as she reached him, standing an arm length from him. "Trust me, it's what he would want."

"I do trust you…," Draco paused, running a hand through Hermione's curls, causing her to blush. "Hermione." At the sound of her first name on his lips, HErmioen grabbed Draco's hand from her hair and bit her lips together nervously. Draco chuckled, looking amused. "So, tell me, what's with the surprise visit to my office?" Draco asked, roundin his desk.

Hermione took a seat at one of the cahirs facing Draco's desk. "Well after the surprise you gave me yesterday, taking me to Hogwarts and all, I wanted to surprise you with something today."

Draco raised an eyebrow at her. "You have a surprise for me?" He laughed as Hermione nodded, her eyes filled with excitement. "What is it?"

Hermione shook her head in disbelief. "If I told you it wouldn't be a surprise anymore."

"I can still act surprised." Draco put on a cheesy smile. "I find myself to be an amazing actor."

"Yeah, maybe in a soap opera." Hermione said under her breath so Draco couldn't hear her. It wasn't like it mattered, Draco didn't even know what a television was, let alone something that played on it.

"What?"

"Nothing." Hermione answered quickly. "Now, are you coming or not?" She stood up from her seat and held her hand out to Draco.

"Right now?" Didn't she know he was a very busy man and that he had tons of work to do? "I'm pretty busy right now Granger, and I have a meeting with The Minister shortly."

"Skip it." Hermione said, ignoring Draco's raised eyebrows and smirk at her sudden rebellious nature. Truthfully, she even surprised herself.

"I think I'm rubbing off on you Granger."

"Oh, sod off." Hermione dismissed him with a wave of her hand. "Now, come on before it gets to crowded."

Draco sighed. "You're going to get me fired, you know that?"

Hermione laughed. "You're the head of a department that you fund with your own money. They're not about to fire you."

"Sometimes I hate how smart you are Granger." Draco stood up from his seat and sighed. "Alright fine." Hermione smiled with excitement. "Just let me owl The Minister and tell him that something came up."

It took Draco all but two minutes to quickly write a letter to The Minister. When the letter was on it's way, Hermione held out her hand again and Draco took it, the Gryffindor quickly apparating away before Draco could change his mind.

They landed with a pop. Screams and a roar came from above them, and Draco immediately pulled out his wand and aimed above him. He looked around confused when he realized that above them were just planks of wood, held up by wooden pillars. Wondering where he was, he glanced down at his feet and saw sand. Now even more confused, he turned to look at Hermione and when he did, he noticed the scene that was behind her. Waves crashed along the sand as the blue sky was slowly starting to change into a deep purple.

When he noticed Hermione smiling at him, he lowered his wand. "There's nothing to be afraid of here." She said with a laugh.

"I'm not afraid."

"Oh… really?" Hermione teased. "You sure looked like you were."

"Yes, well after the war we've been through, one cant' help but jump at a scream."

"Then put your wand away Malfoy." Hermione said, still smiling. She knew that Draco had at least been startled by where they were. It was a new surrounding to him, anybody would be really. "The muggles will think your mental."

"Muggles?" Draco questioned, but Hermione had turned her back on him and was walking towards the waves, out from under the boards.

"Are you coming?" She asked, turning and holding out her hand again. Draco nodded and grabbed her hand, walking with Hermione as she pulled him out from under the planks and into the sunlight. Draco couldn't help but smile as Hermioen excitedly pulled him towards the crashing waves and then up the steps that led onto the top of the boards they were previously under.

"Hermione, where are you-" Draco stopped mid sentence, his mouth falling open at the sight before him. What stood before him was something he had never seen before. Tall pillars made of metal held up what looked like a train track, only one that swerved through the air as a metal dragon carrying people moved around on it, forcing the screams he had previously heard out of the muggles. He looked around more and as he did, he froze when his eyes met a giant wheel that stood hundreds of feet into the air. It spun it circles, yet somehow stayed stationary, and Draco could just make out muggles sitting in little carts all along the edges of the circles. "Wh-Where are we?" Draco asked as he watched some lights turn on near him as the sun slowly started to set.

Hermione could help but laugh. "It's called the boardwalk. And these," She pointed up towards the metal dragon Draco had first spotted. "Are all called amusement park rides. Muggles come here for fun."

"But… they're screaming." Draco pointed out.

"With excitement." Hermione said with a smile. "Come one, I'll buy us some tickets and then we can go on the rollercoaster." Hermione nodded up towards the ride she had just pointed out towards Draco. Draco, however, didn't follow her. Instead, he kept his eyes on the rollercoaster, looking at it unsurely. "Are you coming?" Hermione asked a few feet from Draco as she realized he wasn't following her. "Draco? Draco… come on." Draco slowly peeled his eyes away from the rollercoaster and looked at Hermione.

"I-I don't think I want to go on that ride." He said, trying to keep his cool even though his hands were shaking with fright.

Hermione approached him, placing her hand on top of Draco's and leaning in towards him so no-one around them could hear her speak. "So you can ride a broom hundreds of feet in the air, going 200 miles an hour, only your grip keeping you on, but you can't go on that?" Hermione nodded towards the rollercoaster and Draco looked back at it, mentally groaning. "It'll be fun… I promise."

He looked back at her and nodded slowly, still unsure. Hermioen smiled with excitement, quickly pulling him towards the ticket stand. When she finished purchasing the tickets, she quickly dragged Draco into the line for the rollercoaster, excitement etched on her face.

Draco looked like he was going to be sick.

As they got closer and closer, Draco finally spoke up. "This is a terrible idea Hermione."

Hermione turned to him, smirking. "You're scared… aren't you?"

"No." Draco answered quickly, almost to quickly.

"Yes you are." She retorted. "Draco Malfoy, Slytherin bad boy, is afraid of a small rollercoaster."

Draco glared at her, but Hermione only smiled back. "I just don't want my hair to get messed up, okay?" He cursed inwardly. Hair? That was the best he could come up with?

Hermione laughed as they moved further into the line, now next to go. She quickly tasseled his hair with her hand and smiled, leaning towards him. "Do you know magic or not?" There was no arguing, Draco had lost. It was man up now and go or admit that he was to much of a wimp to ride what the muggles called a rollercoaster. He sighed as the gates opened to allow them into the coaster. Hermione turned back to look at him, and he nodded, following her inside. They climbed into the cart and Hermione pulled down the restraining bars.

Once they were double checked by the workers, the train started to move, taking a tight turn before heading upwards. Draco nervously fidgeted with his hands, glancing down at the ground as they slowly got higher and higher. Before long, they were all the way at the top, and Draco let out a scream, along with Hermione, as they took a deep plunge to the ground. Draco lost his stomach, but as the train flew up another hill, then back down again, Draco found himself smiling. This wasn't so bad, it was actually quite fun. It was just like riding a broom you had no control over, yet safely secured inside.

They took more and more turns, and before Draco knew it, the ride had stopped and him and Hermione were forced off, both walking towards the exit and back onto the boardwalk. As they stepped back onto the boardwalk, Hermione turned to see Draco's reaction, already knowing that he had enjoyed himself. "Well… what did you think?"

"That was bloody brilliant!" Draco cried as he turned to face Hermione. "It was like I was riding a giant broom stick that I had no control over." As Draco spoke, Hermione used her hand to fix Draco's hair back to the original state. I mean, I know I said I hated them and all and that they have some pretty dumb inventions, but that was amazing. Who knew that muggles-" Hermione crashed her lips onto Draco's to stop him from talking, and when she released the kiss, Draco was smiling at her.

"Stop talking Draco and let's just go again." She grabbed Draco's hand and pulled him back into the line. They rode the rollercoaster a couple more times and when they were finished, Draco was practically dragging Hermione onto some different rides. As they walked, Draco looking like a kid in a candy store, he came to a full stop in front of the giant wheel he had spotted earlier, his head now tilted towards it.

With a smirk, he turned towards Hermione, who was looking at it with fearful eyes. "Can we go on the giant wheel?"

"It's called a Ferris wheel, and no we can't go on that one."

"Why?"

"It'… uh… broken down."

Draco watched a family of five get into one of the carts before the Ferris wheel starting to spin for a couple of seconds and then stop to allow more people on, making a liar out of Hermione. He smirked, turning back to her. "Looks like it's in working order to me."

"No, Draco… please. I don't like this ride." Hermione begged as Draco grabbed her hand and started to pull her towards the ride. He stopped at her plea and looked into her fear filled eyes as she looked up at the Ferris wheel in horror. "I can't believe this." He said with a laugh. "Hermione Granger, Gryffindor, if afraid of heights."

"I'm… I'm not scared Malfoy." She couldn't admit to Draco she was afraid fo something as silly as heights, she was a Gryffindor, house of the brave.

"Ok, good. Then let's go." Hermione groaned and allowed him to pull her onto the ride. When they were seated and moving, Hermione quickly grabbed onto the middle pole and hugged it. Draco couldn't help but to burst out laughing. "You little liar." He said as he crossed his arms over his chest and leaned back. Hermione glared back at him. "You are scared."

"Don't call me a liar Draco Malfoy!" Hermione snapped. "You lied too. 'Oh, I don't want to mess up my hair!'" Hermione mimicked Draco before the rollercoaster. "What a load of rubbish."

Draco chuckled, getting up out of his seat and moving next to Hermione. In one quick, swift motion, he pulled Hermione back and into his arms, holding her tightly. "Okay, so I'm a liar. But you don't have to worry about falling Granger. I would do everything in my power to catch you and prevent you from getting hurt."

Hermione turned slowly to look at Draco once he spoke. They looked into each other's eyes for a few seconds, and almost like they planned I tout, they crashed their lips together, their tongues dancing in each other's mouths. When neither of them could no longer breathe they pulled apart, still staring into each other's eyes. Hermione sighed and rested her head on Draco's chest, the latter placing his chin on the top of her head.

"What if I'm already falling?" Hermione asked quietly, hoping he would catch the double meaning in her question. The air around them seemed to get quiet, and Draco released his grip on Hermione as she slowly tore herself from him and glanced up into his silver eyes.

"I'm already falling right besides you Granger, holding your hand the whole way down." Hermione smiled at him deeply before leaning her head back on Draco's chest and sighing contently, her eyes now out on the horizon as the sun was setting. Draco had his chin on the top of her head again, only he was staring at the ground, his mind going over the question Hermione had just asked him over and over again. Was it really possible that two people who grew up hating each other were slowly starting to fall in love?

The Ferris wheel came to a sudden stop at the very top, their cart now swinging slightly from it, causing Draco's attention to now be on the sun set, the sky painted pink, purple, and a deep blue that mixed perfectly with the waves crashing into the sea below them. "Wow." Draco said as Hermione leaned out of his arms and scooted closer towards the edge to get a better view. "I've never seen a sun set like this before, have you?" Draco glanced at Hermione as she sighed contently, closing her eyes and inhaling the sea breeze. "Are you okay Granger?" Draco asked, concerned.

She turned to him and smiled at him reassuringly. "I'm fine. I just really love the ocean." She laughed slightly. "It's my favorite place in the world."

"Mind me asking why?"

Hermione glanced at him before turning back to the waves that were crashing on the surface below them. She sighed again before responding. "After Harry, Ron, and I were captured by the snatchers that brought us to your manor, after I was… tortured… Dobby rescued us and brought us to Bill and Fluer's home. They called it shell cottage and it sat right by the ocean. Anywhere in the house you could hear waves crashing onto the shore line and could smell the sea breeze. There… I was able to heal and mentally recover from what happened. Ever since then I've always held a soft spot for the place that helped me get strong again."

"I'm sorry Hermione, I really am. I should have helped you, Potter, and Weasley that night. I should have stopped my aunt from torturing you."

Hermione smiled at him slightly and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek. "You apologize to me almost every day Draco. I already told you that I don't blame you."

"You should."

"Why?"

"Because I stood there and did nothing. What kind of person does that?" Draco turned his head away from Hermione in shame and looked back in the opposite direction of the waves.

Hermione looked at him sadly before gently grabbing a hold of his chin and turning him to face her again. "A smart person. Someone who was afraid of something they were pushed into and couldn't get out of. You were scared Draco. You were just like me, Harry, and Ron. You were thrown into the war and had no way of getting out. Everything was out of your hands except for one thing… your life. I don't blame you for wanting to stay alive, for not wanting to be killed for being a traitor."

"But-"

"Helping us would have been the end of you Draco." Hermione paused before speaking sadly. "He would have killed you Draco, you know he would have."

"I could have run away with you."

Hermione laughed slightly at this. "Do you actually think we would have allowed you to travel with us, even if you proved yourself to us by helping us escape?" Draco opened his mouth to speak, but Hermione continued. "We didn't let anybody travel with us, not even Lupin. There was nothing you could have done. The only person blaming you for what you did in the war is yourself." Draco smiled at her as the ride started to move again, slowly bringing them to the bottom. "You're a good person Draco. I just wish you would realize this."

"I do Hermione… thanks to you." Hermione blushed as they reached the ground and the ride attendant opened the door for them. Together, enemies now friends slowly falling for one another, held hands as they walked down the board walk together, the sun just setting on the horizon.

Draco walked Hermione up to her door after they had finally given into the exhaustion from going on all the rides at the boardwalk. He watched as Hermione opened the door, placing her stuffed animal, a ferret, that Draco had won for her (which she had teased him with by saying it looked just like him in third year when Moody had turned him into one) on the ground inside her house. She turned to him and smiled, giving him a kiss on the cheek.

"I had fun." She said.

"As did I." Draco smiled back. "Whoever knew that muggles could have so much fun."

Hermione chuckled. "See, were not all that bad."

"No." Draco shook his head. "You're not." Hermione's smile faded slightly at his compliment, her eyes now on Draco as he leaned in for a kiss. It was magical, just like all the rest, and left Hermione breathless with butterflies in her stomach after they broke apart. "Well… goodnight Hermione. I'll see you tomorrow?"

"Yeah." She smiled, still breathless. "Goodnight." She watched as Draco turned and walked towards the end of her walkway. He turned to her one more time and waved with a small smile before apparating on the spot. Hermione squealed with excitement and shut the door. She leaned her back against it and slowly fell to the ground, grabbing the ferret off the ground and holding it in her lap. She stared at it, her fingers playing with the whiskers and ears, as her mind wandered to thoughts of Draco and the night they just had.

She knew she was falling for him, that much was obvious. And now she knew that Draco was falling for her judging by what he had said. So what were they considered? Friends? Friends with benefits? Were they a couple?

Suddenly, it really bugged Hermione, and she stood up from the floor and walked into the living room. She placed the ferret on the couch and stared into her fireplace. She needed to know, to at least hear Draco say that everything wasn't just a waste of time. She was feeling something for him, and she needed to know if he was feeling it to. She wasn't going to walk away with a broken heart, because a broken heart was something that she always seemed to have in every aspect of her life. Her parents couldn't remember who she was, and her and Ron fell apart due to his auror career and her move to Australia. She couldn't do it again, she just couldn't.

She took a step towards the fireplace and grabbed a handful of floo powder before tossing it into the fire. She was going to find the truth now and stop herself from ever having to worry about her heart breaking again.

Draco plopped down onto his love seat, a smile forming on his face as his mind kept replaying the kiss Hermione gave him over and over again in his mind. He let out a small chuckle as he felt butterflies in his stomach, his hand coming up to his face as his finger tips landed on his lips. He couldn't believe that someone was making him feel this way, let alone Hermione Granger.

"Looks like you had a good night." Draco flew out of his seat and whipped around, yanking his wand out of his pocket and pointing it in the direction the voice came from. When he saw who it was, however, he lowered his wand. "How about I make it a _great_ night?"

"Sophia." Draco snapped. "How in the bloody hell did you get into my flat?"

"The front door silly." She smirked seductively, slowly approaching Draco from behind the couch, two wine glasses in her hand. "Did you forget about magic?"

Draco glared at her. "You need to leave. You can't be here."

"Why?" Sophia asked, now only a few feet from Draco. "Will your new mudblood girlfriend get jealous of you having wine with an ex girlfriend?"

"Don't call Hermione that." Draco snapped. "And she's not my girlfriend."

"Okay, so what's the harm in one little glass of wine?" Sophia thrusted a glass into Draco's hand. "It's just one drink Draco."

"One drink leads to another, and knowing you, I'm sure you spiked it." Draco turned away from Sophia to place the drink on the coffee table, but when he turned back, Sophia was standing so close to him, their chest nearly touched. Draco jumped slightly from surprise, and quickly took a step back. "Sophia, stop this." Draco snapped as Sophia only took a step closer to him. He sighed when he felt her place her hands on his chest. He closed his eyes and brought his hand that was un-occupied by his wand up to his face to rub his eyes in frustration. "Soph."

"Yes Draco?" She whispered in his ear.

"Why are you here?" He finally looked at her. "I told you to never come near me again, especially after what you did to me." He licked his lips. "You cheated on me, you broke my heart."

"I know Draco." She said quietly, slowly running her hand down his arm until it reached his hand that still gripped his wand. Slowly, she pulled it from his grasps and examined it. "I can't fix your broken heart with magic," She placed the wand on the coffee table next to the wine. "But I have something else that can." She slowly leaned forward to kiss his lips, just barely brushing him.

But as they touched, a face came to Draco's mind… Hermione's. No. No, he didn't want this. He was turning a new leaf, and Hermione would help him get there, not Sophia. He quickly pushed her away, walking around her to sit back on the couch, burying his head in his hands. "Get out Soph. Now!"

"But Draco-"

"Now!"

Sophia glared at him as he buried his head. No, she came here for a reason, and she would make sure she completed the job at hand. If she wanted her money, she needed to do everything Lucius had told her to. She could play dirty and lie. It's what she was good at.

Putting her sad face on, she lowered herself to the couch, running a hand along Draco's shoulder. "Draco." She sighed. "Draco, I came here to apologize."

He looked up at her. "What?"

"I thought about what I did and I'm sorry. That's why I'm here tonight."

Draco laughed. "You're not sorry." He snapped. "You used me for my money and publicity, for your five minutes of fame."

"I didn't." She said through her teeth, forcing tears to come to her eyes. "I _loved_ you Draco."

Draco snorted, going to stand up, but Sophia grabbed his hand and pulled him back onto the couch, quickly sitting on his lap, facing him as to prevent him from standing up. "Sophia, get off." Draco ordered. It was obvious that Draco was becoming exhausted with her lies and dramatics.

"Kiss me Draco." She demanded.

"What?" Draco looked shocked.

"I love you and I know you love me, so kiss me." Sophia placed one of her hands on his cheek to which he yanked it off.

"I don't love you. You're a whore and a bloody-" Draco didn't get to finish his sentence because at that instant, Sophia threw herself onto Draco, attaching her lips to his. He quickly tried to push her off, but she grabbed his hands and held them tightly, preventing him from stopping her.

As Draco tried to force his ex off of him, there was a sudden sound of someone flooing into his flat and a voice he recognized, making his blood run cold.

"Draco I-."

The voice stopped and with all the force he had, Draco removed his hand from Sophia's grip and pushed her to the side, causing her to nearly fall off the couch. Draco's eyes latched with Hermione's, glazed with tears, for only a couple seconds before her bushy mane of brown curls whipped her face and she was turning back to the fireplace.

"Hermione! Wait!" But she ditn stop. Within a second she was gone. Draco quickly grabbed some floor powder to chase after her, but found it blocked after several attempts of still remaining in his living room. "Damn it!" He cursed. He grabbed his wand and went to apparate, but turned to Sophia, a smirk on her face. "I hope you're happy. You just ruined everything."

"No Draco. I saved you from the worst mistake of your life."

"If you're not gone by the time I get back, then the worst mistake of my life would be going to Azkaban for the murder of a common whore." Draco apparated away, not waiting to hear Sophia's response.

He was running up the walkway to Pansy's flat, Hermione's current location, and banging on the door in seconds. He quickly tried unlocking the door with magic, but it was no use. If Hermioen had already blocked the floo network, of course she would have prevented him from entering the home through the front door. "Hermione! Hermione please come to the door!" Draco continued to yell and bang for a couple minutes, and just when he was about to give up and go home, he heard Hermione's voice travel through the door.

"Go away Malfoy."

He could tell by her voice that she had been crying and that she probably still was. "Hermione, please." Draco spoke calmly despite how fast his heart was racing, his voice pleading as he rested his forehead against the door, palms pressing into the wood. "That wasn't what it looked like, I swear it wasn't."

"So… you just miraculously ended up with a girl on your lap, snogging you senseless?"

"I was framed Hermione, please believe me." Draco felt himself slowly losing her. All the progress they had made had gone to shit in minutes. "You know I've changed Hermione. That's not me anymore."

"I _thought_ you changed. Obviously… I was wrong."

"No, no, no." Draco said quickly. "You were right. You're always right, remember? They don't call you the brightest witch of your age for nothing."

There was silence, but then Hermione spoke. "You need to leave Draco. Goodnight."

"Wait! Please!" He didn't hear Hermione leave and he needed to ask her this one thing. He had to know. "We said goodnight to each other, yet you came back to my flat. Why did you come to see me?"

Hermione closed her eyes, a tear falling down her cheek. "To find out what the hell we were doing." She inhaled deeply. "To find out what I was to you, what you felt towards me."

"Hermione…." Draco closed his eyes as well, disbelief hitting him.

"Obviously… I don't mean much at all."

"You know that's not true."

"Goodnight Draco."

"Please Hermione, let me in. Let me explain myself. Let me tell you what happened… please." But she never answered him, and Draco knew she was gone.

He had lost her.

* * *

_Okay, don't kill me! You all had to know i had to throw a curve ball in there somewhere ;)!_

_I will, however, leave you all with some good news. I have figured out the way the rest of the story is going to go (a few small things in-between of course), and it should have around 23-24 chapters. Hopefully you guys will like it because i'm super excited to write it!_

_Please remember to review and i'll try my hardest to update faster next time! _


	17. The Scavenger Hunt

_Wow. So it's been three months exactly since I have updated this story and I must say that I am about as sorry as humanly possible. This chapter was actually really hard to write, for whatever reason, and it took me this long to find the time to get it uploaded. _

_I also just got back from going to the Harry Potter theme park in Orlando about two weeks ago, and let me just say, it was AMAZING. If you are a die hard fan of Harry Potter, like I am, you need to go there no matter where you live. The castle is absoluetly magical and so are all the shops. I purchased my wand, went into Honeydukes and got a chocolate frog, bertie botts, rock cakes, and even a cauldron cake (which was delicious by the way). I also sat down in front of the castle and had a butterbeer, which is by far my favorite drink in the world now, and a pumpkin juice. My description and picutures can't even put into place how amazing it is. My 20 hour drive was totally worth it._

_Now, thanks to all those who reviewed last chapter:_  
_dreadfuldelights: I'm totally game!_  
_Avanell: I'm from New Jersey, so when i was thinking of the boardwalk they were at, I actually had a Jersey Shore in mind, like Wildwood lol._  
_obsidianbutterfly20: same!_  
_OrangeJuice7: lol glad you liked it._  
_HarryPGinnyW4eva: thanks for the great review! and i totally understand. _  
_musicofmyheart: thanks for the review!_  
_voldyismyfather: i know... i hated doing it to her._  
_mad-bout-horses-nd-cowboys: glad to see you're back for more!_  
_Irmorena: lol i like to think that narcissa loves lucius to much to do that._  
_Spunkywave77: we'll see ;)_  
_mjmusiclover: yes she is. and thank you like always!_  
_Amanda: thank you sooooo much!_  
_Mika: happy you liked it!_  
_beautifly92: sorry for the wait!_  
_dracomalfoyswifey: happy you liked it, and i know, i hated creating sophia as much as everybody hated her lol._  
_daniela1417: lol sooooo sorry for the long wait! don't kill me :)_  
_sandylovejay: awe :( . i'm sorry_  
_CGinny: glad to see you like it._  
_Dairire: thanks for the great reivew! and sory for the long wait._  
_kaipanther: dont break your computer when you shake it, because then you really wouldnt be able to read this chapter lol._

_Last Chapter: _

_Hermione closed her eyes, a tear falling down her cheek. "To find out what the hell we were doing." She inhaled deeply. "To find out what I was to you, what you felt towards me."_

_"Hermione…." Draco closed his eyes as well, disbelief hitting him._

_"Obviously… I don't mean much at all."_

_"You know that's not true."_

_"Goodnight Draco."_

_"Please Hermione, let me in. Let me explain myself. Let me tell you what happened… please." But she never answered him, and Draco knew she was gone._

_He had lost her._

* * *

Seventeen

April 16  
Day 9

His mind seemed to be everywhere but the present as he twirled the wine in the glass he was holding. He couldn't get her face out of his mind and it was started to drive him crazy. When had he become so close, so attached, so keen on never wanted to let her go? Better yet, when did he start caring for her as much as he did at this very moment?

If he had to guess, he would say it was after he invited her to dinner with his parents. He might have been a huge git in Hogwarts, but like everyone else, the war made him realize how stupid people like his father were acting. Seeing how much his father's words hurt Hermione, well… he realized that that was how much he really hurt her. But he was done. He had turned a new leaf for good, with Hermione by his side.

He sighed deeply, resting his elbows on his knees as he started off in though. Hermione was no longer with him, and he could see no way of getting her back.

He brought the win to his lips, but stopped before he could take a sip. It wasn't his fault. It was that slutty ex-girlfriend of his, Sophia's. She had brought him this wine, and here was drinking it. Pissed at both her and himself, Draco stood up from his seat on the couch and chucked the glass, full of red wine, at the wall. It shattered, the win running down the wall and onto the carpet, but Draco didn't care. He grabbed the full bottle of wine and chucked that at the wall too, his fist clenched at his sides as he breathed heavily.

His doorbell suddenly rang and Draco immediately looked over at it. He wondered instantly who it could be. His heart took a leap at the thought of Hermione coming back to him, but anger flooded him as he realized it could be Sophia again.

Fist still clenched at his side, Draco marched to the front door. IN a way, he hoped it was Sophia so he could pound her face into the wall. He was never one to hit a girl, but Sophia… she was different. She wasn't a girl, at least not in Draco's eyes. She was more like the Devil, a female version of Voldemort.

He pulled open the door immediately, still fuming, and came face to face with the person he least expected. "Blaise." Draco said, suddenly calmer at the sigh t of a friendly face.

Blaise, who had been smiling seconds ago, was now frowning at his best mate. "Draco." He greeted carefully. "You okay, mate?"

Draco nodded, his first reaction to lie. "I'm fine. Why are you here so late?"

"Just came from the bar. Where've you been all day?"

"I was… out. Did you wanna come in?" Draco asked, stepping aside to allow Blaise in.

Blaise nodded. He walked inside Draco's flat, moving towards the living room. He froze suddenly, his eyes on the broken glass and stained carpet from the win Draco chucked. Blaise turned back to Draco, a half amused, half worried expression on his face. "I thought you said you were fine?" Draco ran his hand on the back of his neck, looking at the broken glass bottle. Blaise sighed, pulling out his wand and turning back to the carpet. With a wave, the glass quickly fixed itself, the wine disappearing back into the glass. "Talk to me, mate." Blaise said after retrieving the wine and handing it to Draco. "And I wouldn't drink that if I were you."

"Wasn't planning on it." Draco murmured, walking towards his kitchen, Blaise trailing him. When Draco reached the sink, he quickly tilted the wine bottle over the sink, watching as the wine disappeared down the drain.

"Draco." Blaise called, not liking how quiet his best friend was acting. "You look like a lttle girl who was just told her cat was hit by a rebounded curse." Draco didn't answer, just continued to stare down at the drain even though the wine was no longer running down it. "Actually, you look like how you looked after Sophia cheated on you."

Draco turned from the sink, moving over to sit at his kitchen table. "Can we _not_ talk about her."

Blaise sighed, joining Draco at the table. "Then talk to me about something else. Where's Granger tonight? She off with Potter and Weasley?"

"I'm sure she's already told them what a 'rotten git' I am." Draco said, studying his hand. Blaise chuckled slightly, realizing it was a mistake as Draco glared at him. "Don't laugh, alright?" Draco shouted. "I just lost her, probably for forever." He was suddenly quiet, sad.

"Lost her forever?" Blaise questioned, confused. "What are you on about? Did you go home early or something?"

Draco shook his head. "My ex showed up here and threw herself at me. I tried to push her away but I couldn't in time. Hermione saw and now she won't listen to a word I have to say." He paused, studying his hands, not wanting to look Blaise in the eye. "I can't even tell her it wasn't my fault."

"Wait… Sophia?" Draco nodded his response as Blaise shook his head in disapproval. "I always said she was a bad egg."

Draco looked up at Blaise, glaring at him. "No you didn't!" He yelled. "You said you liked her! Said I picked the right woman this time with the perfect body."

"Alright, so I'm guilty." Blaise said, laughing slightly. "She was really pretty though, Draco, you have to admit that."

"Yeah… pretty slutty." Draco said, calming down slightly. "She was only after my name and my money, nothing more."

"I don't understand why you're so upset." Blaise said as he leaned back in his chair. "You were only using Granger anyway, right?" Draco didn't answer, only lowered his eyes, and Blaise could see right through him. He leaned forward in his chair, a look of complete shock on his face. "Merlin's pants! You care about her, don't you?"

Draco looked up at Blaise for a few seconds before turning his head away and standing up to make some tea. "Does it matter?" Draco asked without looking back at Blaise. "She doesn't want to see me anyway."

Blaise was now laughing hard. "This is great, really." Draco turned to glare at him, not seeing the funny side in any of this. "I mean, it sucks that you were framed and all, but you, _Draco Malfoy_ have feelings for a muggleborn. It's just… hilarious."

Draco turned back to the tea. "Yes. I'm just rolling on the ground in tears of laughter." He said sarcastically.

"Well, are you going to get her back?" Draco turned to look at Blaise in confusion. "I thought Draco Malfoy always gets what he wants?"

Draco couldn't help but smirk at his best mate. "You're pushing me to get her back?" Blaise nodded. "I never thought you would approve." He murmured.

"Draco, my friend," Blaise smirked. "I was _never_ as prejudice as you were." Draco chuckled slightly. "So, are we getting Granger back into your loving, Slytherin arms?"

"We?" Draco asked as the tea finished brewing. He poured himself and Blaise a drink before sitting back down at the kitchen table and taking a sip. "Are you going to help me?"

"What are best friends for?" He asked, taking a sip of his tea as well. "Besides, I know woman. I know how to figure them out."

Draco laughed. "I wish you could have figured out Sophia. I might not be in this situation." Draco sighed, placing his tea on the table. "You wouldn't believe what she said to me before I chased after Hermione. 'I saved you from the worst mistake of your life.'." Draco mimicked.

"You know," Blaise started, taking a sip of his tea. "That sounds like something your father would say."

Draco smiled, laughing slightly as he brought his tea to his lips, but then he froze. His father never approved of Hermione, and the more Draco thought about it, the more correct Blaise sounded. "My father!" Draco roared, standing up from his chair and marching towards the fireplace.

"Hey!" Blaise yelled after him. "Where in the bloody hell are you going?"

"Stay here." Draco ordered as he grabbed some floo powder. "I need to pay a visit to my loving, devoted father." And with that, he disappeared into green flames.

* * *

Malfoy Manor was dark as all its inhabitants slept soundly, but that didn't stop Draco from storming in. "Kippy!" Draco yelled for a house elf. It took longer than usual, Draco guessing that she must have been sleeping, but she soon stood before him within seconds. "I need to speak to my father."

"M-Master Lucius is sleeping, sir." The elf stuttered.

"So wake him. Tell him I need to speak with him immediately." The elf nodded before disappearing. He hadn't meant to be so cruel to the creature, but the anger towards his father was overwhelming.

It took a few minutes, but before long Lucius entered the study in which Draco was standing, still dressed in his nightgown, and Draco's rage took over. He charged at his father, grabbing the collar of his shirt and slamming him against the wall, wand at his father's throat. "How could you!" Draco yelled through his teeth."

"Nice to see you to, son."

"How could you frame me like that?" Draco yelled, ignoring his father. At that second, Draco heard a gasp from behind him as Narcissa entered the room. "I'm your son!" He yelled, irnoging his mother.

"Draco- what- what is going on here?" Narcissa asked.

"I think some of the courage from the mudblood our son is falling for is finally rubbing off on him, Narcissa." Lucius said, not taking his eyes off Draco.

At the word mudblood, Draco slammed his father against the wall again. "I never should have listened to you! I never should have believed you to be a good father! You've done _nothing_ for me all seventeen years of my life."

"Draco!" Narcissa yelled.

"I will _never_ be like you." Draco yelled, still ignoring his mother. "I will never be as prejudice as you are, and nothing you do, not even framing me, is going to stop me." Draco glared at his father. "If there's on thing I learned from you, it's how to get what I want."

"She's a mudblood Draco." Lucius snapped back.

"She's a human!" Draco snapped back. "And a damn good one at that. She's a better person then you could ever dream of being."

"Listen to yourself son!" Lucius yelled, become angry. "You sound like Potter!"

"Good." Draco said with a smile. "At least I don't sound like you anymore."

"Draco." Narcissa started, trying to sound calm. "Release your father and tell me what's going on."

Draco turned to look at his mother, not letting go of his father. "This amazing father of mine, called up one of my ex's and most likely paid her to go to my flat and… seduce me. He wanted Granger to see, so she wouldn't trust me anymore."

Narcissa looked shocked, now turning to her husband. "Lucius! You didn't!"

"He did."

"And judging by your reaction my plan was a success." Lucius smirked.

"For now." Draco said, and Lucius's smirk fell. "Unfortunately for you, I happen to have one of the most conniving Slytherins as my best mate." Draco couldn't help but chuckle slightly. "And if you're luck… Hermione will believe me when I tell her the truth."

Lucius suddenly looked like he was going to explode. "You're making a mistake!" He yelled. "She's not right for you! Your grandfather is probably rolling around in his grave right now."

"I don't care about an old, prejudice, dead man! This is what I want. Can't you just except that for once father?"

"No."

"Yes." Lucius and Narcissa both answered at the same time, the latter telling Draco what he wanted to hear. "You deserve to be happy son."

"Cissy!"

"Now, remove your father and go get her back." Narcissa smiled at Draco as he released his father slightly. "For once… you deserve to be happy."

Draco walked over to his mother, hugging her. "Thank you." He said before glaring back at his father one more time and then approaching the fireplace to floo away.

"Cissy, how-"

"You listen to me Lucius Malfoy." Narcissa said sternly. "You better hope _she_ forgives him or else Draco _and_ I are never going to forgive _you_."

"Yes you will." Lucius answered.

"Not this time Lucius." Narcissa warmed. "You've controlled Draco's life, drilling ideas into his head for too long. Eventually he's going to hate you for it and you'll never see him again. As for me, well, I'm tired of seeing him miserable."

Lucius smiled at his wife slightly. "He's not miserable, Cissy."

Narcissa quickly whipped out her wand, waving it in the air and watching as The Daily Prophet flew into his hands. She then approached Lucius, grabbing a picture off the wall as she did so. "This, she help the picture from the wall out to Lucius. "Was Draco after the war."

He looked as depressed, as disconnected as ever as he stared blankly back into Lucius's eyes. He had never noticed it during the war, seeing as they were all miserable, but now that everything was back to normal, he realized just how right his wife was. Draco was… miserable.

"And this," Narcissa handed him The Daily Prophet. "Is our Draco now. "It was a picture of him and Hermione, both smiling and laughing like Lucius had never seen his son laugh before. "Look at him Lucius." Narcissa whispered, looking at Lucius. "That girl is the reason he's so happy today."

Lucius sighed, turning to look at his wife. "Who cares if she's muggleborn? She makes Draco happier than I've ever seen him, and that should be enough for you." Narcissa continued.

Lucius smiled at his wife, placing his hands on the side of her face as he kissed her. She was right. He may not be able to say it aloud yet, but his kiss gave Narcissa the answer she wanted. She was right.

* * *

April 17  
Day 10

Hermione stared at herself in the bathroom mirror the morning after her incident with Draco. She looked terrible, no matter how much she didn't want to admit it. She had bags under her blood shot eyes, evidence of a short, terrible night's sleep due to the tears coming from her eyes, and although she had just showered, her hair was a terrible mess, evidence of how much she really cared at the moment. She sighed, running her fingers along her bags and wishing they would go away, as she frowned at herself. Internally, she noticed this was the first time she looked so miserable since beginning this vacation. This fact only angered her more.

The fact that Draco Malfoy had been the reason for her happiness the past week made her blood boil. Never in her life had she ever been so stupid, so trustworthy. She allowed her heart to open up to a Slytherin, and the worst one in her opinion, and look what happened.

She glared at herself in the mirror, muttering curses under her breath as she walked out of the bathroom. Just as she was about to reach the kitchen, the doorbell suddenly rang. Hermione turned to look at the door curiously. Who was here to see her so early in the morning? Of course, it could be Draco. She scoffed as she approached the door. He's stay away from her if he knew what was best for him.

When she reached the door she unlocked it, opening it slightly to see who her guest was. However, when she met her visitors eyes, she opened the door all the way to face him, curiosity taking over. "Zabini?" Hermione questioned.

The dark Italian smiled at her slightly. "Happy to see you're awake." He said, giving a glance over. "Although… it looks like you didn't sleep very well."

Hermione's fingers self consciously went to the bags under her eyes, before she quickly removed them, glaring at Blaise. "Is there something I can do for you, Zabini?"

He smirked at her. "I'm here on my friends behalf."

"Malfoy's?" Hermione questioned immediately. "I can assure you that whatever Draco has to say to me, I could honestly care less about."

Blaise chuckled. "Don't lie to yourself, Granger. Why else would I be here if it wasn't for Draco?" Hermione didn't answer. "You knew very well why I'm here, yet you still answered the door."

"By mere curiosity." Hermione said in a soft voice, almost admitting to being caught red handed.

"Curiosity that maybe Draco still cares about you?" He paused. "That _you_ still about him." The last part was a statement, not a question, and his cockiness pissed Hermione off. She went to slam the door on his face, but Blaise stopped it with his foot. "Don't slam the door on me because I'm right, Granger."

"Why are you here, Zabini?" Hermione snapped.

"To give you this." Blaise handed her a letter she hadn't realized he was holding until just now.

Hermione took it from him, studying it carefully. "Why not owl it?" She asked. "Why give it to me in person?"

"Because the second the owl delivered it to you, you would have tossed it in the fire." Blaise said knowingly. Hermione stared back at him, her lips forming a tight line. He was right, whether she admitted it to herself or not. As they stared at each other, Blaise's smug face suddenly fell and she sighted, looking at Hermione seriously. "I'm his best friend Granger."

"What's your point?" Hermione asked kindly.

"When he's with you… well, I've never seen him so happy." Hermione fidgeted nervously, looking away from Blaise for a second. "Give him another chance… please. Just… read the letter." Blaise smiled at her kindly before walking away from the door and apparating when he reached the sidewalk.

Hermione closed the door, leaning her back against it, letter in hand, as a sort of hope spread through her. Was he really as happy around her as she was with him? She closed her eyes, picturing his face smiling at her the night before on the Ferris wheel. Without a second though, she opened her eyes and moved to open the letter with her name on the front in Draco's pointy handwriting.

_Hermione, _

_I'm going to start off by saying I'm sorry. I'm sorry for being such a terrible git and a horrible friend to you. I know I don't deserve your forgiveness, although if you allow me to explain, you would realize that what you saw last night was not my fault. I know I don't deserve a second chance, especially from you, after everything I've done to you in the past, but I need to ask for one more._

_Please, if you are willing to give this to me, go to the restaurant where we had our first date at. _

_Draco _

There was nothing more written, and Hermione studied it, her mind racing. The Draco Malfoy she knew from Hogwarts slept around with everybody, so what occurred the previous night seemed like a normal thing for him. But for him to write a letter, to ask Blaise to hand deliver it for him, didn't seem like something Draco would normally do to get somebody to forgive him.

And she didn't know whether it was the curiosity of what she would find at the restaurant or the fact that deep down in her heart she wanted to give Draco another chance. Either way, she folded the letter up and placed it inside her pocket, slipping on her flats that were sitting by the door and walking outside to the apparation spot, the restaurant they ate at pictured in her mind.

Hermione walked inside the restaurant and approached the host. She smiled at him and he quickly returned the gesture. "Hello Miss, can I help you?"

"Yes. I was wondering if you could tell me if Draco Malfoy left anything here for me?" She asked kindly.

The host looked suddenly confused. "No Miss, I'm sorry." He apologized. "Would you like a table this morning?"

"Oh- umm… no thank you." Hermione smiled back, although confused herself, and exited the restaurant. Once outside, she looked around cautiously, trying to think of where Draco could be. This was the place he stated in his letter, the place they had their first date. As she pondered, she didn't even realize she was walking the same path Draco walked as she chased after him, so naturally, she didn't realize that small pumpkin sitting on the ground.

She kicked it, letting out a small cry from the pain in her foot and looked down to examine what caused her the pain. She looked around at the people passing by, but nobody was paying her any attention. Bending down, she picked up the pumpkin and examined it. To her surprise, there was writing carved along the one side of it.

_Cinderella and Prince Charming were never really expected to fall in love. Both were raised  
differently, taught different things, and lived different lives. But thanks to one night, one ball  
one party, they realized how much they really loved each other. _

She smiled slightly, looking around for Draco or any familiar face, but when she didn't see one, she knew where she had to go.

Zabini Manor, the dance she attended with Draco just like Cinderella had with Prince Charming. She chuckled slightly before apparating. She wondered what Harry and Ron would say if she called Draco her Prince Charming.

She approached Zabini Manor, pumpkin still in her hand, her attention set on the door. When she reached it, she knocked twice and waited. When nobody came, she let out a frustrated sigh. "Hello! Zabini!" No noise came from the house and Hermione turned from the door and looked around at the front yard.

It was then something caught her eyes. Hoping across the yard towards one of the tress was a white rabbit. As soon as she spotted it, it turned and looked back at her, and that's when Hermione realized it was wearing something around its neck. As she started to approached it, it quickly disappeared into a whole by the tree and Hermione sprinted after it. She looked down the whole, but when she saw nothing, she got down on her hands and knees and stuck her hand inside.

She could feel her fingers touch something cold and metal, and she quickly grasped it, pulling it out. She looked at it and realized it was a clock, only the time was off by a couple hours. According to the clock, it would be noon in one minute. Confused, Hermione turned it over and found another message.

_Alice falls through a rabbit hold, landing in Wonderland. At the age of eleven, you fell through  
a sort of rabbit hold as well, hoping on a train and heading off to your own dreamland, a place  
once destroyed and slowly making its way back to normal. _

"My own dreamland." She repeated. "That would be Hogwarts." Just as she said it, the clock started to glow blue, and Hermione realized it was a portkey. She gripped it tightly and allowed it to take her to her destination.

It wasn't long before she landed exactly where she though, Hogwarts. She studied the grounds with a smile, taking into account how much work had been completed in the past couple of days. As she turned to look around her, she noticed something that she hadn't seen before, and as she approached it, her smile grew, and she realized what it was immediately.

Before her stood a statue of Professor Snape, stationed in front of where the whomping willow stood. He was glancing bacj up at the castle, a small smile on his face. His wand was grasped tightly in his right hand and beside him stood a doe, his patronus, one that Hermione knew all too well. She smiled as she read the inscription at his feet.

_For Professor Severus Snape. In his time at Hogwarts, many of his students believed him to be untrustworthy and cruel. But as a deatheater, what would you really expect, right? But not many people knew the real Professor Snape, and nobody but a few know his true story today. Professor Snape, although a Slytherin, had the bravery of a Gryffindor, and showed it well by playing spy for Tom Marvolo Riddle while his loyalties still lied with Albus Dumbledore. We dedicate this statue to a brave Slytherin who risked everything for the love of a childhood friend and also a hero in the making. _

Hermione couldn't help the small tear that ran down her cheek. She wished now, as she knew that Harry and Ron did as well, that they knew what they knew now about Snape sooner. The statue was great, but yet Hermione felt a pang in her heart. He deserved better, and she hoped, wherever he was now, that he was happy.

She wiped the rear form her eye and lowered her head. As she did, she saw a toy fairy sitting on the ground. Curious, she picked it up, and as she did, the fairy came to life. If flew through the air and it was then that Hermione realized it was spelling something.

_The second star to the right takes Wendy, John, and Michael to Neverland, a place no-one in  
their world knew existed. It was a place where no-one grew up. Everyone was a child. Thanks for being my Peter Pan_

"The boardwalk!" Hermione exclaimed, and the fairy instantly turned back into a toy and started heading for the ground. Hermione caught it and watched as it started to flow blue as well. She held onto it as the second portkey transported her.

She landed under the boardwalk and inhaled the sea air before heading up. As soon as she did, she looked around and spotted nothing unusual, until:

"Come and play! Come win a spindle!"

Hermione looked up at the boy running the game curiously. She had never heard of a spindle as a prize before. Just as she started to approach the game, she me t the boys eye and he smiled at her. "Would you like to play?" He asked Hermione as she walked over.

"A spindle is an awfully strange prize, don't you think?" Hermione asked. The boy just smiled at her. "How much?"

"For you, my dear, it's free." He said, reaching under the desk and pulling out three balls. "Knock over all six cans and you get a prize."

Hermione studied him carefully, grabbing on of the baseballs in the process. Taking her eyes off the boy, she studied the cans, and with all her might, tossed it at them. To her surprise, they all fell over and Hermione turned to the boy in surprise, but not before she saw him slip something into his pocket. And suddenly, she understood. There games were made so you could lose. How could she, a small girl, accomplice something non-magic related that Viktor Krum wouldn't have been able to manage.

"A-Are you a-." She stopped when the boy winked at her, reaching up and pulling down a wooden spindle.

"Congratulations." The boy said before disappearing into a door behind the game.

Hermione grabbed the spindle and started walked back towards the beach. When she found a spot and sat down in the sand, she waited, staring at the spindle. However, nothing was happening and Hermione didn't understand. She sighed in frustration, and the sudden familiar voice behind her made her jump.

"You know, when Aurora touches the spindle, she falls into a deep sleep, one only her Prince Charming can wake her from." Hermione turned and stood quickly, looking at the man before her.

"Draco." She said, surprised. They started at each other for a few seconds, neither knowing what to say. "Am I supposed to be in a deep sleep then?" She asked, remembering she was supposed to be mad at him.

"Only if I'm the one who will wake you." They continued to stare at each other, this time Draco breaking the silence. "You left so fast last night… I couldn't explain."

"Draco-."

"No Hermione, listen to me." Draco said, now only a couple feet from her. "The girl you saw last night… she's my ex. Her name's Sophia, and she's a bloody whore. She used me for my money and my name while we were together, and that's it. I loved her, but she never loved me." Hermione listened, arms crossed across her chest. "Last night was nothing but a set up by my father. He's still not okay with the idea of us getting this friendly, she he paid her to tear us apart. He hates muggleborns still and he thinks me falling for you will ruin the Malfoy name."

"And do you, Draco?" Hermione asked.

"No." He answered seriously. "Why do you think I did all this?" Hermione looked at him curiously. "Cinderella, Alice in Wonderland, Peter Pan, Sleeping Beauty. These are all muggle stories."

"And yet, you know them." Hermione pointed out, licking her lips nervously as her arms fell to her side. "How?"

Draco smiled at her slightly, looking at the ground as he put his hands inside his pockets. "I was… uh… up all night, looking them up in books I had found." Hermione looked at him shocked now. Draco Malfoy was up all night reading muggle fairy tales. "I knew your love for books and adventure, so I put them together." He finally looked up at her and was delighted to see her smiling at him. "Hermione, if this doesn't prove to you that I no longer hate muggleborns… then I don't know what will."

"Draco-."

"I _need_ you to forgive me Hermione." Draco said, cutting her off. "Because without you I'm miserable… without you I'm a feast built for a dementor."

Hermione smiled at him more brightly, taking a step towards him and pulling his hands out of her pockets and holding them. "Any guy who gets caught snogging another woman, but then goes and learns the history about another person's background, sends them on a scavenger hunt of all their dates, and is man enough to admit that he is miserable without a girl is either really guilty of cheating and is only trying to make up for it or was just in the wrong place at the wrong time." Draco opened his mouth to say something, but Hermione cut him off. "And I don't think you were trying to make up for anything." The Slytherin beamed at the girl in front of him as he quickly placed his hands on the side of her face and kissed her.

Hermione kissed him back, wrapping her arms around his neck. When the kiss ended, Draco lifted Hermione into the air and started spinning in circles, forcing Hermione to hold onto him tightly as she laughed from surprise and excitement.

And being held tightly in someone's arms, especially Draco Malfoy's, was the best feeling in the world to Hermione Granger right now.

* * *

_Yay! So now that Hermione and Draco are back together again, the question about what will happen when Hermione has to go back to Australia comes into play. Is their love really strong enough to keep Hermione in England? ;)_

_Review please!_


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